4 Day Machine Only Workout Plan: Intermediate, Build Muscle
A 4-day program for intermediate lifters, aimed at building muscle.
- 4 days a week
- Upper/lower
- Machines only
- about 25–40 min
- No cardio
- You’ll need: flat bench, dumbbells, lat pulldown, cable row, cable machine, assisted pull-up machine
Each week
Upper A (Horizontal & Vertical Focus)
- Dumbbell Floor Press — 3 × 8–12
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip) — 3 × 8–12
- Standing Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–12
- Seated Cable Row — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise — 3 × 12–15
- Hammer Curl — 3 × 10–12
- Cable Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 10–15
Lower A (Squat & Hinge Focus)
- Goblet Squat — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell RDL — 3 × 8–12
- Cable Pull Through — 3 × 10–15
- Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise — 3 × 12–15
- Hanging Leg Raise — 3 × 10–15
Upper B (Vertical & Cable Focus)
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip) — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Floor Press — 3 × 8–12
- Seated Cable Row — 3 × 10–12
- Standing Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–10
- Cable Lateral Raise — 3 × 12–15
- Cable Curl — 3 × 10–12
- Overhead Dumbbell Extension — 3 × 10–15
Lower B (Split Squat & Unilateral Focus)
- Dumbbell Split Squat — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell RDL (B-Stance) — 3 × 8–12
- Cable Glute Kickback — 3 × 10–15
- Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise — 3 × 12–15
- Dead Bugs — 3 × 10–12
Report card
- Weekly volume — worth a look. Chest, Quads, and Hamstrings get too little work.
- Movement patterns — on target. Every movement pattern this goal cares about is covered.
- Training frequency — on target. Every high-volume muscle is trained 2x/week or more.
- Rep ranges — on target. The intensity mix fits this goal.
- Structural balance — on target. Push:pull and quad:hinge ratios are balanced.
- Recovery spacing — on target. Hard sessions for each muscle are spaced at least a day apart.
- Session workload — on target. No session is overloaded — the weekly work is sensibly distributed.
- Rest & session time — not assessed. Estimated session times — rest periods aren't stated, so pacing wasn't judged.
- Conditioning — on target. No conditioning — fine for this goal, though 1–2 easy sessions a week would cost nothing and buy health.
- Progression plan — not assessed. A written program doesn't show how loads should move week to week — progression gets assessed once the program is being tracked.
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