Hardcore Bodybuilder Workout Training Program…
This is an advanced 4 Day Bodybuilding Split Routine that is great for building muscle mass, strength, and power. It allows you to work all the major muscle groups of the body in a complementary fashion to maximize muscle recovery and growth. I recommend this program for lifters who have at least 1 year of solid weight training experience.
We’re going to divide our training over the course of 4 workouts.
Workout 1: Chest
Workout 2: Back
Workout 3: Legs
Workout 4: Shoulders and Arms
The 4-Day Hardcore Bodybuilder Workout should be followed on a 2 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 2 days off schedule.
Sample 4 Day Bodybuilding Split:
Monday – Workout 1: Chest
Tuesday – Workout 2: Back
Wednesday – Rest Day
Thursday – Workout 3: Legs
Friday – Workout 4: Shoulders and Arms
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – Rest Day
Now if those particular days do not fit your schedule you can train on different days. However you should never train more than 2 days in a row before taking a day of rest.
Training Notes:
- Each workout will start with a heavy mass building power exercise done for 5 sets of 5 reps. Afterwards you’ll move on to some smaller and lighter isolation exercises to complete the workout and hit the muscles from different angles.
- I’m a firm believer in performing multiple “working sets” of an exercise and pushing yourself. The goal here is to stimulate maximum muscle growth and completely stimulate the muscles so they respond by growing bigger and stronger!
- The rest periods between sets for the heavy mass building 5×5 exercises should be upwards of 3 minutes between sets. You need to be fully rested so that you generate maximum strength and power.
- For the smaller isolation exercises you can rest between 1 and 2 minutes between sets, basically just long enough to catch your breath and prepare for your next set.
How Much Weight To Lift…
You should pyramid your weights up with each and each workout. Here is an example.
| Sample Bench Press Workout – Week 1: Warm Up Set: – Empty Bar X 10 reps Warm Up Set: – 95 pounds X 10 reps Warm Up Set: – 135 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 185 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 185 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 185 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 185 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 185 pounds X 5 reps |
If you can perform all 5 sets of 5 reps with good form and with no help from a spotter, you would then up the weight by 5 pounds for your next workout.
| Sample Bench Press Workout – Week 2: Warm Up Set: – Empty Bar X 10 reps Warm Up Set: – 95 pounds X 10 reps Warm Up Set: – 135 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 190 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 190 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 190 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 190 pounds X 5 reps Working Weight Set: – 190 pounds X 5 reps |
As you get stronger you’ll need to include more progressively heavier warm up sets to work up to your top working weights.
This is outlined in more detail in the Pre-Workout Warm-Up Routine.
Note:
You can watch the full length videos of all of these workouts at: Hardcore Bodybuilding Workout Videos.
Workout 1 – Chest
Decline Bench Press:
* warm up sets
– 5 heavy working sets of 5 reps
Incline Bench Dumbbell Flyes:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Pec Deck Flyes:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Super-Set Pec Deck Flyes with Reverse Pec Deck Flyes, work them back and forth…
Reverse Pec Deck Flyes:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 15-25 reps
Push Ups:
– do as many sets as needed to get 100 total reps
Note:
You can super set pec deck flyes and reverse peck deck flyes for 3 sets each.
Workout 2 – Back
**Pull Ups:
– 1 set of 5-10 reps
Deadlifts:
* warm up sets
– 5 heavy working sets of 5 reps
**Pull Ups:
– 1 set of 5-10 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
**Pull Ups:
– 1 set of 5-10 reps
Chest Supported Row Machine:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
**Pull Ups:
– 1 set of 5-10 reps
Face Pulls:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
**Pull Ups:
– 1 set of 5-10 reps
**Note:
Spacing out your pull ups over the course of your back workout like this will allow you to perform more total reps than if you just did them set after set together.
Workout 3 – Legs
** Leg Extensions:
(100 reps to warm up the knees & pre-exhaust the quads)
– Use very light weight and do these in a rest pause fashion and stay on the leg extension machine until you complete 100 total reps.
Barbell Squats:
* warm up sets
– 5 heavy working sets of 5 reps
Leg Curls:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Super-Set Leg Curls with Leg Extensions, work them back and forth…
Leg Extensions:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Standing Calve Raise:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Pull Down Cable Ab Crunches:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 15 reps
Note:
– You can super set leg curls and leg extensions back and forth for 3 sets each.
– The first set of leg extensions is done with really lightweight to warm up the knees and pre-exhaust quads before moving into the rest of the leg workout.
Workout 4 – Shoulders and Arms
Bradford Press:
– 2 sets of 25 reps (general shoulder warm up)
Seated Dumbbell Press:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Standing Barbell Curls:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 8-10 reps
Incline Dumbbell Curls:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Tricep Cable Push Downs:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 8-10 reps
Decline Bench Tricep Extensions:
* warm up sets
– 3 heavy working sets of 10-12 reps
Extra Ab Workouts…
|
You may have noticed that I never included a lot of direct abdominal training with this workout program. The reason for this is because you don’t need to push ab training like you do for big muscle groups such as; chest, back, legs, etc. The abs are simply stabilizer muscles for your core.
The abdominals respond better to brief and frequent workouts. One of my favourite ab routines is to do 100 total reps of an ab exercise at the end my regular workout. So for example, I may do 100 total sit ups, or a 100 total leg raises, or 100 total ab machine crunches, etc. You can mix it up and do a different ab exercise at the end of each workout if you like. The main thing is to just feel the muscles working and get a good pump in the abs, you don’t need to keep cranking up the intensity like you do for your other major muscle groups. |
If you have any questions or comments about the 4 Day Bodybuilding Split Routine,
please post them in the forum and we’ll chat there 🙂