4-Day Gym Split, Female Edition: How to Structure Your Program for Lasting Results

Day 2: Lower-Body A (Quad Focus)

Day 3: Upper-Body B (Pull Focus)

Day 4: Lower-Body B (Glute and Hamstring Focus)

Exercise Instructions

Barbell Bench Press

1. Lie flat on the bench with your feet planted firmly on the floor.
2. Grip the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, your hands over your elbows.
3. Unrack the bar and lower it slowly to your mid-chest, keeping your elbows tucked at about a 45-degree angle.
4. Press the bar back up explosively until your arms are fully extended.

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

1. Sit on a bench with back support, holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, your palms facing forward.
2. Press the dumbbells overhead until your arms are fully extended, but not locked.
3. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

Incline Dumbbell Press

1. Set the bench to a 30-45 degree incline and sit with a dumbbell in each hand, resting on your thighs.
2. Kick the dumbbells up to shoulder height, your palms facing forward.
3. Press the dumbbells upward until your arms are fully extended.
4. Lower back down to shoulder height with control.

Cable Lateral Raise

1. Stand beside a low cable machine with a D-handle attached.
2. With your far hand, grasp the handle and keep your arm slightly bent.
3. Raise your arm out to the side until it’s at shoulder height.
4. Lower slowly back to the starting position and repeat, then switch sides.

Tricep Pushdown

1. Set a straight or angled bar on a high pulley cable.
2. Stand facing the machine and grasp the bar with both hands using an overhand grip.
3. Tuck your elbows into your sides and push the bar down until your arms are straight.
4. Pause, squeeze the triceps, then slowly return to the starting position.

Barbell Back Squat

1. Position a barbell on a squat rack at shoulder height. Rest the bar across your upper back, not on your neck.
2. Step back from the rack with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing slightly out.
3. Keeping your chest up and your core braced, lower your hips back and down as if sitting in a chair.
4. Descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, then drive through your heels to return to the starting position.

Leg Press

1. Sit on the leg press machine with your feet shoulder-width apart on the platform.
2. Unrack the safeties and grip the handles.
3. Lower the platform until your knees are at roughly a 90-degree angle.
4. Press the platform back up without locking your knees at the top.

Walking Lunges

1. Stand upright, holding dumbbells at your sides.
2. Step forward with one leg and lower your body until both knees are bent at 90-degree angles.
3. Push through your front heel to bring your back foot forward to the starting position.
4. Alternate legs and continue for the prescribed reps.

Leg Extension

1. Sit on the leg extension machine and adjust the pad to rest just above your ankles.
2. Grip the handles, then extend your legs fully, squeezing at the top.
3. Lower the weight slowly until back at the starting position.

Seated Calf Raise

1. Sit on the seated calf raise machine with the pads resting above your knees.
2. Place the balls of your feet on the foot platform.
3. Press through your toes to lift your heels as high as possible.
4. Lower your heels down past the platform for a full stretch.

Pull-Ups (or Lat Pulldown)

1. For pull-ups, grip the pull-up bar with an overhand grip, your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Hang with arms fully extended, then pull your chest toward the bar, leading with your back.
3. Lower yourself under control.
4. For lat pulldowns, adjust the thigh pad, grip the bar wide, pull down to upper chest, pause, and return with control.

Bent-Over Barbell Row

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell with an overhand grip.
2. Hinge at your hips, keeping your back straight, until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Pull the barbell up toward your lower chest, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
4. Lower the bar back down with control.

Seated Cable Row

1. Sit on the cable row machine with your feet on the platform, your knees slightly bent.
2. Grab the handle with both hands, sit tall.
3. Pull the handle toward your lower abdomen, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
4. Slowly extend your arms to return.

Face Pulls

1. Set a rope attachment to a cable machine at upper-chest height.
2. Grasp the rope with both hands, your palms facing inward.
3. Pull the rope toward your forehead, your elbows flaring out, squeezing your rear shoulders.
4. Slowly return to the starting position.

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Dumbbell Bicep Curl

1. Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms down by your sides, your palms facing forward.
2. Curl the dumbbells up toward your shoulders while keeping your elbows at your sides.
3. Pause and squeeze at the top, then lower with control.

Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of your thighs.
2. Keeping your back straight and a slight bend in your knees, hinge at your hips, pushing your glutes back.
3. Lower the weight until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings, typically just below your knees.
4. Drive your hips forward to return to the starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Hip Thrust

1. Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and a barbell positioned over your hips.
2. Plant your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
3. Press through your heels to lift your hips, squeezing your glutes hard at the top.
4. Lower hips back to the starting position in a controlled motion.

Glute-Focused Back Extension

1. Set up on a back extension bench, your feet anchored and your hips just above the pad.
2. Cross your arms or hold a weight to your chest.
3. Lower your upper body toward the floor, keeping your spine neutral.
4. Lift your torso by contracting your glutes, stopping when your body is in a straight line.

Lying Leg Curl

1. Lie face down on the leg curl machine, the pad resting just above your ankles.
2. Grip the handles, then curl your legs up as far as possible by contracting your hamstrings.
3. Pause at the top, then slowly lower to the start position.

Abduction Machine

1. Sit on the abduction machine with the pads positioned against the outside of your knees.
2. Grip the handles for support.
3. Press your knees outward against the resistance, squeezing your glutes at the top.
4. Return under control to the starting position.

For more exercise ideas, explore our list of the best exercises for women over 40.

What Are the Pros of a 4-Day Split?

A 4-day split offers several distinct advantages for building muscle and strength.

• High Training Frequency Per Muscle Group

With an upper/lower split, each muscle group is trained twice per week. 

Research has suggested that hitting a muscle group two times a week is the optimal frequency for maximizing muscle hypertrophy (11). This frequent stimulation can lead to faster and more consistent gains in both size and strength.

• Adequate Recovery Time

Training four days a week leaves you with three full days for recovery. This is essential as muscles don’t grow during your workout – they grow while you rest. 

Sufficient recovery helps prevent overtraining, reduces the risk of injury, and ensures you feel fresh and strong for your next session (12). This balance makes it a sustainable approach for the long term.

• Allows for Higher Training Volume

Because you are focusing on fewer muscle groups per session, you can perform more total work (sets x reps x weight) for each one. This higher training volume is a primary driver of hypertrophy (13). 

You can dedicate more energy to performing more exercises and sets for your chest, back, or legs than you could if trying to train your entire body in one workout.

• Flexible and Sustainable

A 4-day split fits well into most people’s lives. You can schedule your workouts around work, family, and social commitments. For example, you can train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, leaving your weekends free. 

This sustainability is key for long-term adherence, which is the most important factor for achieving results. A flexible schedule also makes it easier to manage a 4-day workout split female weight loss plan by allowing time for meal prep and other healthy habits.

If you need a plan with even more flexibility, consider a workout routine for women at home.

Read more: Endurance Training Program for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide

What’s Better, a 4- or 5-Day Split?

The question of whether a 4-day or 5-day split is “better” doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. The optimal choice depends entirely on your individual goals, recovery capacity, and schedule. It’s not about which split is superior in theory, but which one is superior for you.

A 4-day split, such as the upper/lower routine detailed above, is highly effective for most people. It provides an excellent balance of training frequency and recovery, which allows you to hit each muscle group twice a week with enough intensity to stimulate growth while still having three full rest days. This makes it a sustainable and powerful option for building strength and muscle.

A 5-day split often involves training a different muscle group each day (e.g. chest day, back day, leg day, etc.). This allows for a very high volume of training per muscle group, which can be beneficial for advanced lifters or those who are focused on bodybuilding. 

However, it also means that each muscle is only trained directly once per week, and it requires a greater time commitment with fewer rest days. This can be harder to sustain and may increase the risk of burnout or overtraining if not managed properly.

Consider a 4-day split if:

• You have a busy schedule and need more flexibility.
• You want to ensure you have enough time for recovery.
• Your goal is overall strength and balanced muscle development.

Consider a 5-day split if:

• You’re an advanced trainee who can handle higher training volumes.
• Your primary goal is to maximize hypertrophy for specific body parts.
• You have more time to dedicate to the gym and can manage your recovery effectively.

Ultimately, the best split is the one you can stick with consistently.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should I do cardio on a 4-day split?

Yes, including cardio is beneficial. Aim for 2-3 sessions per week. You can do 15-20 minutes of low-intensity cardio after your weight training sessions or have longer, dedicated cardio sessions on your rest days to improve cardiovascular health without interfering with muscle recovery.

• Is 4 days at the gym enough?

Absolutely. Four days of focused, intense training is more than enough to build significant muscle and strength, as long as you’re consistent and apply the principle of progressive overload. 

• Should I do abs every day on a split?

No, you shouldn’t train your abs every day. The abdominal muscles are like any other muscle group and need time to recover. Training them 2-3 times per week with exercises that allow for progressive resistance is sufficient for growth and strength (14). Many compound lifts such as squats and deadlifts also heavily engage your core.

• How do you tell if a muscle is overtrained?

Signs of overtraining include persistent muscle soreness that doesn’t go away, a decline in performance (e.g. you can’t lift as heavy or for as many reps), chronic fatigue, irritability, and difficulty sleeping (15). 

If you experience these symptoms, this is a sign that you need more rest.

• Can I lose belly fat by incline walking?

Incline walking is an excellent low-impact cardio exercise that burns calories, which contributes to overall fat loss (16). However, you can’t spot-reduce fat from your belly or any other specific area (17).

To lose belly fat, you need to be in a consistent calorie deficit through a combination of a healthy diet and regular exercise, including both cardio and strength training (18).

The Bottom Line

Creating a workout plan that you can stick with is the foundation of achieving your fitness goals. A 4-day split offers a perfect blend of intensity, frequency, and recovery, which makes it one of the most effective and sustainable training structures for women. 

By focusing on compound movements, applying progressive overload, and listening to your body, you can use this framework to build strength, transform your physique, and foster a lifelong commitment to your health. The journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and a well-designed plan is your map to the finish line.