Start Here: What To Do This Week
Train four days per week: lower body, upper body, rest, lower body, upper body. Log every set, keep one to three reps in reserve on most lifts, and add reps or weight when your form stays clean.
That is the whole split.
A good 4-day workout split for women should help you build glutes, legs, back, shoulders, and arms without turning your week into a second job. You do not need random circuits. You need a repeatable plan, enough recovery, and a simple way to know when to progress.
Use this plan for 8 to 12 weeks before changing exercises.
The Weekly Schedule
Here is the easiest setup.
| Day | Workout | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lower Body A | Glutes, quads, hamstrings |
| Tuesday | Upper Body A | Back, chest, shoulders, arms |
| Wednesday | Rest or steps | Recovery |
| Thursday | Lower Body B | Glutes, hamstrings, quads |
| Friday | Upper Body B | Shoulders, back, arms, core |
| Saturday | Optional cardio or walk | Fat loss support |
| Sunday | Rest | Recovery and check-in |
If your week is different, keep the pattern: lower, upper, rest, lower, upper.
Do not stack all four workouts in a row if you can avoid it. The split works because each muscle gets trained hard, then gets time to recover before you hit it again.
Before Every Workout: 8-Minute Warm-Up
Do this before each session.
| Warm-up | Time or reps |
|---|---:|
| Incline walk, bike, or stair climber | 4 minutes |
| Bodyweight squats or hinges | 10 reps |
| Band pull-aparts or cable face pulls | 12 reps |
| Glute bridges on lower days | 12 reps |
| First main lift warm-up sets | 2 lighter sets |
The warm-up should make your first working set feel better, not turn into a 25-minute mini workout.
Lower Body A: Glutes, Quads, and Hamstrings
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Hip thrust | 4 | 8-12 | 2 min |
| Leg press | 3 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Romanian deadlift | 3 | 8-10 | 2 min |
| Walking lunge | 2 | 10/side | 90 sec |
| Seated or lying hamstring curl | 2 | 10-15 | 60 sec |
| Standing calf raise | 2 | 10-15 | 60 sec |
Start with glutes while your energy is high. Pause hip thrusts at the top, control leg press depth, and make Romanian deadlifts feel like a hamstring stretch instead of a lower-back test.
Upper Body A: Back, Chest, Shoulders, and Arms
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Lat pulldown | 3 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Dumbbell bench press | 3 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Seated cable row | 3 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Dumbbell shoulder press | 2 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Cable triceps pressdown | 2 | 10-15 | 60 sec |
| Dumbbell curl | 2 | 10-15 | 60 sec |
Upper body matters even if your main goal is glutes. Back and shoulder training improves posture, balances your shape, and helps you brace better on lower-body lifts. Pull elbows toward ribs on rows and pulldowns, and press with control.
Lower Body B: Glutes, Hamstrings, and Quads
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Squat or hack squat | 3 | 6-10 | 2 min |
| Bulgarian split squat | 3 | 8-10/side | 2 min |
| Cable glute kickback | 3 | 12-15/side | 60 sec |
| Leg extension | 2 | 10-15 | 60 sec |
| Hip abduction machine | 2 | 12-20 | 60 sec |
| Back extension or 45-degree hyperextension | 2 | 10-15 | 90 sec |
Choose either squat or hack squat. You do not need both. Use a slightly longer stride on Bulgarian split squats if you want more glute, and treat kickbacks like real reps instead of momentum.
Upper Body B: Shoulders, Back, Arms, and Core
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Assisted pull-up or pulldown | 3 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Machine chest press or incline dumbbell press | 2 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Cable lateral raise | 3 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| Chest-supported row | 3 | 8-12 | 90 sec |
| Rear delt fly | 2 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| Hanging knee raise or dead bug | 2 | 8-12 | 60 sec |
This workout builds the upper-body shape most beginners skip: shoulders, upper back, and rear delts. Keep lateral raises light enough to control, and use chest-supported rows so your back does the work.
How Heavy Should You Lift?
Use a weight that leaves one to three reps in reserve on most sets. If your set says 8 to 12 reps, finish feeling like you could maybe do one to three more clean reps.
| Feeling | What to do |
|---|---|
| You could do 5+ more reps | Add weight next set |
| You could do 1-3 more reps | Perfect training zone |
| Your form breaks | Lower the weight |
| You hit failure every set | Back off slightly |
You do not need to max out to grow. You need hard, repeatable sets you can recover from.
How to Progress Each Week
Use double progression.
Here is the rule:
- Pick a weight you can lift in the target rep range.
- Keep that weight until you hit the top of the range on every set.
- Add a small amount of weight next time.
- Repeat.
Example with hip thrusts:
| Week | Weight | Sets and reps | What to do next |
|---|---:|---|---|
| 1 | 135 lb | 10, 9, 8, 8 | Keep weight |
| 2 | 135 lb | 11, 10, 9, 8 | Keep weight |
| 3 | 135 lb | 12, 12, 11, 10 | Keep weight |
| 4 | 135 lb | 12, 12, 12, 12 | Add weight |
| 5 | 145 lb | 10, 9, 8, 8 | Build again |
This is why logging matters. If you do not write down the weight and reps, you are guessing.
Cardio for Fat Loss
Keep cardio simple: 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, plus 1 to 2 easy 20-minute sessions if you want them. If your legs are always sore and your lifts are dropping, reduce cardio before adding more work.
Nutrition Targets for Building Muscle and Losing Fat
Training creates the signal. Food decides how well your body responds. Start here:
| Goal | Daily target |
|---|---|
| Protein | 0.7-1g per pound of goal body weight |
| Calories | Small deficit for fat loss, maintenance for recomp |
| Steps | 7,000-10,000 per day |
| Water | 2-3 liters per day |
| Fiber | 25g+ per day |
For fat loss, use a small calorie deficit. For body recomposition, eat around maintenance, hit protein, and let your workout numbers improve. Track calories when you want faster feedback; use photo calorie tracking when typing every ingredient makes you quit.
Common Mistakes With a 4-Day Split
Avoid these:
- adding extra glute days before you can recover from two good ones
- changing exercises every week
- training to failure on every set
- skipping upper body because you only care about lower body
- doing hard HIIT after every leg day
- cutting calories so low that your lifts stall
- judging progress by one weigh-in
The goal is not to feel destroyed. The goal is to perform a little better over time.
How to Know the Split Is Working
Check these once per week.
| Metric | Good sign |
|---|---|
| Workout log | More reps or weight on main lifts |
| Photos | Better glute, leg, shoulder, or waist shape |
| Measurements | Waist, hip, or thigh changes match your goal |
| Energy | You can train hard without dreading every session |
| Recovery | Soreness fades before the next workout |
| Consistency | You complete 3 to 4 workouts most weeks |
Do not change the plan after one bad week. If the same lift stalls for three weeks, make one change: add food, improve sleep, reduce one or two sets, or swap the exercise for a similar one.
Final Takeaway
Run this 4-day split for 8 to 12 weeks: lower, upper, rest, lower, upper. Track every set, stay one to three reps from failure most of the time, and add reps or weight when your form stays clean.
That is the action.
You do not need to live in the gym to build muscle and lose fat. You need a plan you can repeat long enough to prove it works.
Soma makes that easier by giving you AI workout plans, workout logging, RPE tracking, calorie tracking, and photo food logging in one place. If you want your training and nutrition to stop living in five different apps, start here.