4-Minute Muscle Full-Split

Get both big and strong in 4 weeks with the 4-Minute Muscle mass-gaining technique combined with periodized strength training.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated September 28, 2023

If you’ve been a JYM Army member for a while, you may remember my week-long full-body 4-Minute Muscle program – a novel, yet highly effective program for gaining muscle and shedding body fat.

Now, I'm introducing 4-Minute Muscle Full-Split. It's pretty similar to the first program, but with a twist... or two or three or four!

What’s similar is that you have four minutes to complete as many reps as you can on each exercise. That’s where the similarities end.

With this new "2.0" version, I’ve taken the 4-Minute Muscle (4MM) technique and created a four-week Full-Split program out of it. If you own a copy of my Encyclopedia of Muscle & Strength book, this is somewhat similar to the way I use the 4-Minute Muscle technique in Chapter 6.

With the 4MM Full-Split program, you get the best of both worlds: Wicked pumps and muscle burn with the lighter-weight 4MM technique to instigate muscle growth, plus heavy periodized training to gain strength – the latter of which can also further improve muscle mass gains by allowing you to use heavier weight to complete the same reps, or get more reps with the same weight (such as your body weight).

4MM Program Rundown

The 4MM Full-Split program follows a 5-day split, where Workout 1 trains chest and calves as focus muscle groups; Workout 2 focuses on back and abs; Workout 3 targets legs and calves; Workout 4 focuses on shoulders, traps, and abs; and finally, Workout 5 has you finishing with triceps, biceps, and forearms, as well as calves (optional) as the focus muscle groups. You also get two active rest days that you can decide how active you want to be based on your goals.

Each workout starts with 2 to 4 exercises for each of the focus muscle groups, done with the 4-Minute Muscle technique. Once you finish the focus muscle groups, you go on to complete one exercise each for all non-focus muscle groups; you'll use straight sets on these moves.

For example, in Workout 1 you'll start with four exercises for chest, all done with the 4MM technique. Then, you'll do two exercises for calves using the 4MM technique. Then, you'll finish the workout by doing one exercise for three straight sets for each of the other eight muscle groups that didn’t get trained with the 4MM (legs, back, shoulders, traps, triceps, biceps, forearms, abs).

The full-body exercises are technically optional; you don't have to do them unless your goal is fat loss. If your main goal is mass-gaining, you can end the workout after the focus muscle groups have been trained with the 4MM technique.

Also, note that most large major muscle groups have four exercises/sets using the 4MM technique. This may be too much for individuals with limited training experience. Feel free to start with just two exercises per focus muscle group to assess how many sets your body will need of the 4MM sets.

How to Do the 4-Minute Muscle Protocol

To do the 4-Minute Muscle technique, pick a weight on the exercise that allows you to complete at least 15 reps, but fewer than 20 reps. You have 4 minutes to complete as many reps as possible.

You can also use the 4MM technique for bodyweight exercises with which you can't complete at least 15 reps. Just do as many reps as you can each time until the 4 minutes are up. If you can’t complete reps for the full 4 minutes, that will be your first goal: to be able to complete the 4 minutes regardless of how many reps you can complete.