4 Day Workout Plan: Intermediate, Strength
A 4-day program for intermediate lifters, aimed at getting stronger.
- 4 days a week
- Hybrid
- Full gym
- about 40–50 min
- No cardio
- You’ll need: barbell and rack, bench press station, adjustable bench, dumbbells, cable row, lat pulldown, cable machine, 5 weight machines
Each week
Upper A - Heavy Bench & Back
- Barbell Bench Press — 3 × 3–5
- Barbell Row — 3 × 5–6
- Incline Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–10
- Seated Cable Row — 3 × 8–12
- Overhead Press (OHP) — 2 × 5–6
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise — 2 × 10–12
- Cable Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 8–12
- Hammer Curl — 3 × 8–12
Lower A & Bench Variation
- Barbell Back Squat — 3 × 4–6
- Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press — 3 × 5–8
- Romanian Deadlift (RDL) — 2 × 8–10
- Barbell Hip Thrust — 3 × 8–12
- Leg Extension — 3 × 10–12
- Lying Leg Curl — 2 × 10–12
- Standing Calf Raise — 3 × 10–12
Upper B - Volume Bench & Upper Back Support
- Barbell Bench Press — 3 × 6–8
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip) — 3 × 8–12
- Incline Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–10
- Chin Up — 3 × 6–10
- Reverse Pec Deck / Machine Rear Delt Fly — 3 × 10–12
- Skullcrushers — 2 × 8–12
- Barbell Curl — 3 × 8–12
Lower B - Posterior Chain & Core
- Romanian Deadlift (RDL) — 4 × 6–8
- Barbell Back Squat — 3 × 6–8
- Barbell Hip Thrust — 3 × 8–10
- Bulgarian Split Squat — 3 × 10–12
- Seated Leg Curl — 3 × 10–12
- Cable Pull Through — 3 × 12–15
- Hanging Leg Raise — 3 × 10–15
Report card
- Weekly volume — on target. All 8 scored muscle groups sit in the 6–20 sets/week range.
- Movement patterns — on target. Every movement pattern this goal cares about is covered.
- Training frequency — on target. Every high-volume main pattern is trained 2x/week or more.
- Rep ranges — worth a look. 20% of sets are heavy (≤6 reps) — workable, but a strength goal wants more time under heavy load.
- 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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