Fullbody Workouts 4 Days a Week? Is This Crazy?

I might be crazy, but I like a challenge. And creating this workout was a challenge.

I was asked if it was possible to perform a  full-body workout four days per week. Of course! Anything is possible. As long as you balance volume, intensity, and frequency - anything is possible.

So I did just that.

We already know the frequency: Four full-body workouts per week. The only variables we need to adjust are volume and intensity.

Related: Fast Gains: A Quick Start Muscle Building Workout Plan

Intensity. Intensity is weight relative to your one rep max. It is also the overall impact and stress an exercise places upon a muscle and joints.

So if you bench press 250 pounds, using a weight of 220 pounds is more intense than repping out with 175 pounds. Get it? Good.

An isolation or machine exercise is also less intense than a compound movement. It feels easier, and is generally more forgiving on your joints and tendons.

Training each muscle group four times per week is possible, but I believe it's in our best interest to cycle intensity. Here are the two workout options I am going to outline:

• Workout #1 - Heavy/Light (HL)
• Workout #2 - Heavy/Light/Moderate (HLM)

Volume. When I consider volume, I look at total amount of work performed.

Let's say you perform 12 sets for chest one day a week on a body part split. Here is a volume break down for various frequency approaches:

• Upper/Lower Split - Target chest twice a week using 6 total sets per session. This yields 12 total working sets per week.
• Full-body Split - Target chest three times a week using 4 total sets per session. This yields 12 total working sets per week.
• Full-body Split - Target chest three times a week using 4 total sets per session. This yields 12 total working sets per week.

So if we are to attempt four full-body workouts per week, the best plan of attack is to use only 3 sets per major muscle group per session. This yields 12 total working sets per week. For minor muscle groups I am going to aim for eight total sets per week, or two sets per session.

Heavy/Light 4 Day Full-body Workout

Here is a sample schedule:

• Day 1 - Workout A
• Day 2 - Workout B
• Day 3 - Off
• Day 4 - Workout C
• Day 5 - Workout D
• Day 6 - Off
• Day 7 - Off

For major muscle groups we will rotate between heavy and light work. So you will perform 6 heavier sets per week and 6 lighter sets per week.

Heavy sets will involve compound movements in the 5 to 10 rep range. Lighter sets will involve bodyweight or isolation-style movements in the 10 to 15 rep range.

Minor muscle groups will use more of a moderate/light approach. We will rotate between moderately taxing movements using about 10 reps per set, to lighter isolation-style movements using about 15 reps per set.

Heavy/Light/Moderate 4 Day Full-body Workout

Here is a sample schedule:

• Day 1 - Workout A
• Day 2 - Workout B
• Day 3 - Off
• Day 4 - Workout C
• Day 5 - Workout D
• Day 6 - Off
• Day 7 - Off

For major muscle groups we will rotate between heavy and light/moderate work. So you will perform 6 heavier sets per week, 3 moderate sets, and 3 lighter sets per week.

Heavy sets will involve compound movements in the 5 to 10 rep range. Lighter sets will involve bodyweight or isolation-style movements in the 10 to 15 rep range. Moderate sets will involve taxing machine-style exercises, more moderate compound lifts, or challenging body weight exercises in the 8 to 12 rep range.

Minor muscle groups will use more of a moderate/light approach. We will rotate between moderately taxing movements using about 10 reps per set, to lighter isolation-style movements using about 15 reps per set.