Progrevia4-day fat loss routine
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A fat loss routine over 4 days is built to lose fat without losing the muscle you have, with dense sessions and a moderate deficit.
Parameters the engine applies
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Assigned structure | Upper / Lower |
| Reps per set | 10-20 |
| Sets per exercise | 3-4 |
| Rest between sets | 30-90 s |
| RIR (reps in reserve) | 2-4 |
| Intensity | 55-70% 1RM |
| Share of compound exercises | 70 % |
These are not generic recommendations: they are the exact parameters the engine uses to build this routine, and they change with the goal you pick.
How your week looks
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Upper A (Push) |
| Day 2 | Legs A |
| Day 3 | Upper B (Pull) |
| Day 4 | Legs B |
The engine splits muscle groups across sessions according to the structure that matches your available days.
Exercise table: the week the engine builds
This is the routine Progrevia builds for an intermediate lifter with a full gym and 60-minute sessions: 28 exercises and 97 sets per week. Yours adapts to your level, your equipment and your time, so it may differ.
Day 1 · Upper A (Push)
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incline dumbbell bench press | 4 × 8-10 | 3-4 | 75 s |
| Barbell row | 4 × 8-10 | 3-4 | 75 s |
| Seated dumbbell press | 4 × 8-10 | 3-4 | 75 s |
| Seated overhead dumbbell triceps extension | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Decline dumbbell flyes | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Dumbbell pullover | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Cable pullover | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
Day 2 · Legs A
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell lunges | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Good mornings | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Sumo deadlift | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Leg press calf raise | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Single-leg leg extension | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Leg extension | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Lying leg curl | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
Day 3 · Upper B (Pull)
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gironda row | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Pull-ups | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Parallel bar dips | 4 × 10-15 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Preacher curl | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Face pull | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Straight-arm pulldown | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Cable pullover | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
Day 4 · Legs B
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-leg RDL | 4 × 15-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Sumo goblet squat | 4 × 15-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Cyclist squat | 4 × 15-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Landmine rotation | 4 × 15-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Standing cable leg curl | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Seated leg curl | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
| Cable glute kickback | 3 × 12-20 | 3-4 | 60 s |
Weekly sets per muscle group
| Muscle group | Sets per week |
|---|---|
| Back | 21 |
| Hamstrings | 17 |
| Quads | 14 |
| Chest | 14 |
| Glutes | 11 |
| Shoulders | 7 |
| Abs | 4 |
| Biceps | 3 |
| Calves | 3 |
| Triceps | 3 |
Each set is counted on the exercise's main muscle. It is the most direct way to compare this routine with another: at equal effort, weekly volume is what weighs most on the result.
What changes compared with the 3-day routine
With 4 days the week adds up to 97 sets; with 3, 73. These are the differences per muscle group:
- Hamstrings: 4 → 17
- Back: 14 → 21
- Glutes: 4 → 11
- Quads: 10 → 14
- Chest: 10 → 14
- Triceps: 4 → 3
- Shoulders: 10 → 7
- Traps: 7 → 0
Sessions in the 3-day routine: Push, Pull, Legs.
Losing fat with 4 days of lifting without losing muscle
In a deficit, lifting makes sure what you lose is fat rather than muscle. Two findings sum it up. In the trial by Longland and colleagues (2016, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition), with a large deficit and intense training, the higher-protein group gained lean mass and lost more fat than the lower-protein group. And in the study by Garthe and colleagues (2011), athletes who lost weight more slowly kept their lean mass and strength better than those who lost it fast.
With 4 days, each muscle gets two stimuli a week, which helps preserve muscle in a deficit with manageable sessions.
The week the engine builds has 4 sessions, 28 exercises and 97 sets in total. Counting sets and rest, each session takes about 40 minutes, not including the warm-up.
| Week | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set the deficit (around 0.5-1% of bodyweight per week) and your protein, and hit your 4 sessions (Upper A (Push), Legs A, Upper B (Pull), Legs B) | Scale goes down without strength dropping |
| 2 | Keep the loads on barbell row and good mornings even as calories go down | Strength is the sign you are keeping muscle |
| 3 | Check your weekly average weight and adjust 100-200 kcal if it is not moving | Correct with data, not with a single day |
| 4 | If fatigue builds, a lighter week: about 58 of the 97 sets across your 4 sessions | Reach the next month with energy |
- Longland TM, Oikawa SY, Mitchell CJ, Devries MC, Phillips SM. Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss: a randomized trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;103(3):738-746.
- Garthe I, Raastad T, Refsnes PE, Koivisto A, Sundgot-Borgen J. Effect of two different weight-loss rates on body composition and strength and power-related performance in elite athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2011;21(2):97-104.
How the week is split
Upper and lower body, twice (push upper, lower, pull upper and lower): every muscle group is trained twice a week. This week, 6 of the 10 muscle groups with their own exercise are trained twice or more and 4 once.
What your routine includes
- Sessions of 7 exercises and 24 to 25 sets.
- The exercise with the most sets this week: Cable pullover, with 6.
- Reps of 8 to 20 and rests of 60 to 75 seconds, depending on the exercise and the day.
- RIR 3-4 in the first week, 2-3 in the second and 1-2 in the third; in the deload it rises to 4-6.
- The engine suggests the load for each session from what you log (double progression).
Who is this routine for?
That is 4 sessions of about 60 minutes, 4 hours a week, with 97 sets in total: about 24 per session. It fits if you can set aside those 4 days consistently; if not, look at the 3-day routine.
Exercises it usually includes
Other routines you may like
- 3-day fat loss routine
- 5-day fat loss routine
- 4-day hypertrophy routine
- 4-day strength routine
- 4-day body recomposition routine
Generate yours for free
Progrevia creates your personalized fat loss routine of 4 days in under a minute, no mandatory sign-up and no card. With a free account you can download it as a PDF.
Learn the theory
How to lose fat without losing muscle: recomposition
Frequently asked questions
How many days a week should I train?
It depends on your availability and recovery. 4 days a week is a balanced option for a fat loss goal.
Do I need a gym to lose fat with the 4-day routine?
No. When losing fat, lifting is there to keep your muscle, and you can do that at home with dumbbells or bands as long as the effort stays high. Progrevia adapts the exercises to your equipment.
How much weight will I lose?
It depends on the deficit, not the routine: at a sensible pace, around 0.5-1% of bodyweight per week. At 80 kg that is about 0.4-0.8 kg a week. Look at the weekly average, not a single day.
How many sets per week does the 4-day fat loss routine have?
97 sets spread over 28 exercises and 4 sessions. The group that gets the most work is back, with 21 weekly sets.
Should I do cardio on top of the 4-day fat loss routine?
It helps, but it is not the main lever: diet sets the deficit and lifting protects muscle. What adds the most with the least recovery cost is moving more outside the gym, such as walking daily. If you add hard cardio, do not put it right before your leg session. With 4 lifting sessions a week, your free days are the best ones to walk more.
Progrevia builds gym routines from your own data: periodization, RIR and week-by-week progression. Free, no card.