Get Great Bodybuilding Results In As Little As 4 Times A Week

Many women think that in order for them to get great bodybuilding results, they need to train for hours to an end, mostly doing tons of cardio.  Because of this misconception, they avoid training altogether and miss getting the results that they are looking for.   For great results however, the key is that you girls stop fearing bodybuilding training, which is a combination of weight training and cardiovascular exercise. 

I know, you hear the word bodybuilding and you think of really big professional bodybuilding girls.  However, trust me when I tell you that you will not end up looking like competitive female bodybuilders by accident since that takes the right genetics (which are extremely rare) as well as tons of very heavy training (many times as often as twice a day) and a lot of food.  That look just does not happen by accident.  For the rest of us, heavy weight training coupled with the right diet and cardiovascular exercise will yield the sexy body that you are looking for.  After all, muscles are the ones responsible for giving shape to your body.

How much weight training you will need for this?  Four times a week, just 45 minutes per session and I guarantee that you’ll get awesome results. After training I want you to do 30 minutes of cardio to burn off the fat even faster. Optionally, you can do as much as 45 minutes of cardio (choose any machine you like) if you're up to it for even faster results; I leave that up to you.

Trust me when I tell you, there is no need to spend hours after hours, nor days after days, in the gym to get the results you want. That is what the commercials tell you on TV as they are trying to sell you their 'new innovative five minutes a day’ product.

Bodybuilding training is really not that hard; actually you will find yourself enjoying doing the exercises. Time flies by as you're occupied and before you know it, you're done. You just need to get up and go. You'll feel great when you're done!

Women Bodybuilding Training Split and Workout Schedule

To spend only four days a week in the gym, and have significant results, I created a great sample workout schedule for you. Follow this exact schedule if you like, or feel free to adjust it to your preference if you wish to train other body parts on different days.

Don't worry. I didn't make this training schedule for competitive bodybuilders, so it won't be too hard on you. You only need to go to the gym 4 times a week. That's 3 days off! Remember to train heavy, with weight that will allow you to finish the amount of reps you wish to do, and that force you to do less reps in the later sets or to drop the weight in order to finish the reps you wish to do (and do more reps with the decreased weight if you can).

Bodybuilding Training Split

Monday: Legs, calves

Tuesday: Training off

Wednesday: Back and biceps, abs

Thursday: Training off

Friday: Chest and triceps, abs

Saturday: Shoulders, calves

Sunday: Training off

Workout Schedule

Monday

Directions:  Choose 3 or 4 exercises that target the quads, 3 or 4 exercises for hamstrings and 1 exercise for calves.

Exercise Suggestions:

Quads:

Leg extension (about 25 reps)

Seated or lying leg press (about 25 reps)

Lunges (about 15-20 steps per foot)

Regular / hack squat (about 20 reps)

Abductor & adductor (about 25 reps)

Hamstrings:

Seated leg curl (about 20 reps)

Standing 1 legged leg curl (about 20 reps)

Lying leg curls (about 20 reps)

Romanian dead-lift (about 20 reps)

Calves:

Seated or standing calf raises (about 25 reps)

Wednesday:

Directions: Choose 3 or 4 exercises that target the back and 2-3 exercises for biceps.

Exercise Suggestions:

Back:

Wide grip pull down behind the neck (about 15 reps)

Wide or narrow grip front pull down (about 15 reps)

Machine row (about 15-20 reps)

Dumbbell row (about 15 reps per side)

Wide grip pull ups (about 15 reps)

Narrow grip front pull ups (about 15 reps)

Close reverse grip chins (about 15 reps)

Biceps:

EZ-Bar curls (about 12-15 reps)

Concentration curl (about 12-15 reps)

Preacher curl (about 12-15 reps)

Machine bicep curl (about 12-15 reps)

Alternate dumbbell curl (about 12-15 reps)

Rope curl (about 12-15 reps)

T-bar curl (about 12-15 reps)

Abs:

Stability ball (holding a weight) (about 20-25 reps)

Rope crunch (about 20-25 reps)

Hanging leg raise (about 15 reps)

Machine crunches for upper abs or preferably lower & upper abs (about 20-25 reps)

Bicycle Crunches (about 20-25 reps)

Knee-Ins (about 15 reps)

V-Ups (about 15 reps)

Lying leg raise (about 15 reps)

Friday:

Directions: Choose 3-4 exercises that target the chest and 2-3 for triceps.

Exercise Suggestions:

Chest:

Incline or straight dumbbell fly (about 15 reps)

Incline or straight dumbbell chest press (about 15 reps)

Machine chest press (about 15 reps)

Incline or straight bench press (about 15-20 reps)

Pullover (about 15 reps)

Cable cross (about 20-25 reps)

Chest dips on parallel bars (about 15 reps)

Decline push ups (about 20-25 reps)

Triceps:

V-bar or rope press down (about 15 reps)

(One arm) triceps extension (about 15 reps per arm)

Machine triceps dip or bench dip (about 15 reps)

E-Z bar triceps extensions (about 15 reps)

Triceps kickbacks (about 15 reps)

Saturday:

Directions: Choose 3-4 exercises that target the shoulders.

Exercise Suggestions:

Shoulders:

Dumbbell or barbell military press (about 15 reps)

Front lateral raises (about 15-20 reps)

Side lateral raises (about 15-20 reps)

Narrow or regular grip machine shoulder press (about 15 reps)

Seated bent over rear delt dumbbell flyes (about 20 reps)

Rear delt machine (about 20 reps)

*For The Advanced: Feel free to mix them up in supersets, drop sets, pyramid sets, etc.

When To Do Cardio?

I recommend you do your cardio sessions either first thing in the morning on an empty stomach or right after the workout. No, I didn't say you can't have breakfast. You'll just be doing 45 minutes of cardio before eating. This is because your stomach is empty, you have been sleeping for the past 8 hours (hopefully), and your body will start burning fat sooner at this time.

If you need to have something before doing your cardio, have a cup of coffee or tea. You can have your coffee with fat-free/sugar-free Coffee mate and Splenda, if you’d like. If you prefer tea, go for green tea and sweeten with Splenda if you’d like.

If first thing in the morning is not an option, then do it right after the weight training workout as during this time the body will have burned through most carbohydrates and therefore this is another good time to reach a fat burning state sooner.

How To Do Cardio?

Now, when you do cardio, you can go for the elliptical machine (my favorite), the treadmill, the recumbent bike or the Stairmaster or stepper. I recommend the Stairmaster or stepper for those who want to put the accent on tightening their glutes (bottom) and hamstring and thigh area.

Always choose for 'Manual' and go with how it feels. Choose a level that is high enough for you to feel like you're having a good cardio session, but just so that you are still able to speak. We want you to stay in your fat burning zone, so don't go too fast or too high with intensity. When you have shortness of breath, that means that you are going too fast and intense.

Accompanying the training schedule I just gave you, your cardio sessions should be on the same days in the morning if you can. If you really can't make it to do it in the morning, do it right after your workout or later in the evening if you train in the afternoon (but not on Monday as you'll be training legs on Monday and need your legs to rest). You can also do your cardio sessions on the days you are off (but not on Tuesday as that is the day after you’ve hit your legs and you need to allow them to recover).

Conclusion

Well, there you have the bodybuilding training part of the equation for getting into awesome sexy shape.  As you can see, you don’t have to waste your whole life at the gym in order to achieve good results.  An investment of 4 days a week will get you to where you want to go.  Next time, I will cover the other equally important topic of getting in shape, which is bodybuilding nutrition.

Until then, good luck!!

Yours in health,

Mercedes Khani

IFBB Pro Figure, International Fitness Model and Personal Trainer