4 WEEK
HYPERTROPHY
GUIDE
PREPARED BY:
MIKAHAIL LEWIS
Contents
Background......................................03
Guidelines.........................................04
Push, Pull, Legs, Rest, Repeat ........08
Diet + Nutrition Principles .............14
BA C K G ROU N D
Hey! Welcome to my 4-week workout program. This program
was designed by myself, Mikahail Lewis, and just to let you
know up front this is not a cookie-cutter program. You are
guaranteed to see results using this program as long as you
perform it correctly. Thank you for supporting me, all the best
with your gainz!
BIOGRAPHY:
To this day I remember the day I wanted a big change in my
life. Just coming out of high school in 2016 I decided to start
taking training in the gym seriously! The rest is history. I have
more than achieved the physique I always dreamed of having.
I have been lifting for over 5 years now consistently and I am
also a certified personal trainer since 2020. Certified from the
National Academy of Sports Medicine! So with my
experiences and knowledge when it comes to training I
decided to make a hella good program, the first of many to
come!
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G U ID E L IN E S
Here are a few guidelines and instructions you must follow in order to perform this
program correctly:
1) The split consists of push (Chest, shoulders & triceps), Pull (back and biceps), and legs.
It is to be followed as push, pull, legs, rest repeat! Through this split, you will be able to hit
each muscle group twice per week with sufficient time for each muscle group to recover
and recuperate to be able to get smashed again as per the plan.
2) This program is based on the Rated Perceived Exertion ‘RPE’ scale. Throughout the
program, you should never train below RPE 6. In order to build muscle, you must train
between RPE 6-10. Anything below a RPE 6 would not contribute to building muscle or
strength, very far from optimal.
3) Please make sure to follow this progression following the Rated Perceived Exertion
‘RPE’ Scale for optimal results from this training program. During this 4 week program,
your intensity is expected to increase week to week followed by a deload week! READ
CAREFULLY!
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RATED P E R C E I V ED
EXERT I O N
‘ RPE’ S C A L E
RPE
10
INTENSITY
Max effort – Impossible to perform reps with proper form (no more
repetitions in the tank).
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Very hard – Can only perform 1 more repetition with proper form before
reaching failure.
8
Hard – Close to failure, but leaving 2 repetitions in the tank.If 2 more
repetitions were to be done you would approach failure
7
Challenging – A true Rpe 7 would be leaving 3 repetitions in the tank.
6
Moderate activity – Leaving 4 repetitions in the tank. Somewhat
comfortable but still challenging
5
Easy
4
Easy
3
Too Easy
2
Too Easy
1
Too Easy
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G U ID E L IN E S
C ON T'D
4) This program is made specifically for beginners/intermediate lifters! If you are
new to training i.e.less than 1 year into training instead of doing 4 sets per exercise I
would highly recommend starting off with doing 3 sets per exercise and the same
goes for people who had time off training at the gym due to unforeseen scenarios
such as being in lockdown due to the COVID-19.
As stated earlier this program is based on Rated Perceived Exertion ‘RPE’ scale.
So there is no set amount of weight that is required for you to lift each session in
this program. As stated earlier the intensity is increased week to week in this
program followed by a deload week.
Read Carefully!
For example, let’s say you had to do a flat barbell press for a (4x10) at RPE 7 which
means with each set you are leaving approximately 3 repetitions in the tank, or in other
words, you are 3 more repetitions away from training to failure. Your first set may be 185
for 10 reps and you were spot on with the RPE 7, You then again tried 185 for your
second set of 10 reps and it ended up being closer to RPE 8 (2 reps left in the tank). The
smart thing to do in this situation is simply to reduce the weight to really make sure that
3rd and 4th set ended up being a RPE 7.
Another scenario that also happens is that there are other factors outside the gym that
can affect your gym sessions. Let’s say if one week you did flat barbell press for a (4x10)
@ RPE 7, the following week calls for RPE 8 but due to having poor sleep, or recovery
issues from past sessions, poor diet, or even mental stress can lead to you feeling
physically/mentally weak and you might feel weaker on that given day so just don't be
afraid to reduce the weights in order to hit your RPE target! It's not going to harm your
progress, aim for consistency, not perfection!
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G U ID E L IN E S
C ON T'D
5) Each week you should be doing Push day twice, Pull day twice, and Leg day twice.
Make sure each week you are doing the chest and shoulder dominant, and the shoulder
and tricep dominant PUSH DAYS. The same goes for pull day, make sure you are doing
the back dominant, and the bicep dominant each week. I made it this way to yo have an
equal opportunity to grow all muscle groups.The leg day always stays the same
6) If I was you after running the full 4 weeks of the program and taking the deload week
(5th week) afterward to help you recover from the training cycle I would then run the
whole program again. Simply follow the same guidelines and exercises but with weights
that are heavier. So if within the first week of training you did 170 for a (4x10) @ RPE 6,
when starting over the program start with 175-180 for a (4x10) @ RPE 6. Alternately you
can also practice pausing your reps or introducing a slower tempo the following time to
make the program harder, but in order to target the specified RPE for the following
weeks, you most definitely will have to reduce the weights significantly since pausing
your repetitions or introducing a slower tempo makes exercises so much harder. Hope
this all makes sense!
7) Lastly warmup sets arent included, make sure to warmup properly before performing
your working sets stated in the program. For all exercises start off with the tempo of 3-01. For example on a barbell press, 3 seconds to lower the bar,0 - do not pause the chest
on your bar, and 1 - press the bar at speed within one second, You don't have to start off
with this tempo but make sure to at least keep your tempo the same for all exercises and
sets throughout the program whatever tempo you do chose to follow
6
Push, Pull, Legs,
Rest, Repeat
PU SH , PU L L , L E G S,
RE ST, RE PE A T
Push day (Chest and Shoulder Dominant)
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PU SH , PU L L , L E G S,
RE ST, RE PE A T
Push day (Shoulder and tricep dominant)
10
PU SH , PU L L , L E G S,
RE ST, RE PE A T
Pull day (Back dominant)
11
PU SH , PU L L , L E G S,
RE ST, RE PE A T
Pull day (Bicep dominant)
12
PU SH , PU L L , L E G S,
RE ST, RE PE A T
Leg day (Stays the same always)
calve raises standing or seated
always do 15 + reps @ the rpe for
the given week
13
DIET & NUTRITION
PRINCIPLES
M A C RON U TRIE N TS
1g of carbohydrate
4 calories
1g of protein
4 calories
1g of fat
9 calories
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TRA C K IN G
C A L ORIE S
Use and learn how to track calories using MyFitnessPal: Here’s a video I made showing
how to use it in case you don’t know how to :
YouTube:
1g of carbohydrate
4 calories
Mikahail Lewis - How to track Calories/Macronutrients // Lose lower belly fat (THE
TRUTH) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNur7a6jrK8&t=479s)
1g of protein
If you are new to tracking calories spend 1-2 months tracking so you can get an idea of
the macronutrients that are within the foods you consume. Once you have done this you
should have an idea of how much protein, carbohydrates, and fats are within the foods
you usually eat, and then there’s no need to track every single day. I am not a fan of
tracking every day unless you are competing for a show! What I normally do, is that I
track a few times a month eating roughly the same foods every single day so I always
have an idea about how many calories I am eating!
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L E A N BU L K
Firstly, I would only lean bulk If you are lower than 15% body fat. If you are at a higher
body fat % then you should eat at maintenance calories or if you are want to lose some
body fat then you need to lower your calories and you can even gain muscle doing this
(scroll down for guidelines on how to do this optimally)
1) For the guys who are about to lean bulk, you are going to need to find out what
your current maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories is the amount of calories
you have to eat to maintain your current weight. In order to find this if you don’t
currently know, use this website to help you (https://www.calculator.net/calorie-
calculator.html). You just need to plug in a few measurements and it will calculate it
for you. However, don’t expect it to be 100% accurate. Your maintenance may be
slightly higher or slightly lower, it all depends on the amount of muscle you have. In
general the more muscle you have the more calories you can eat to maintain your
current weight
2) When lean bulking you want to start off with a 300 calorie surplus! So for example,
if your maintenance calories is 2300, that means you will need to start off with 2600
calories in your lean bulk. Eat at this surplus for few weeks, and only once your body
weight plateaus and you are happy with your current body composition then you can
proceed to further increase your calories by another 200-300 calories. Don’t expect to
gain only muscle, you will gain fat but lean bulking will reduce the amount of fat you
gain when trying to gain muscle.
3) Macronutrient-wise, since you are lean bulking I would set protein at 1g per lb of
body weight, but you can go as low as even 0.8g per lb of bodyweight. Make sure
20-30% of your calories come from fat and the rest carbohydrates.
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FA T L OS S
For those at a high body fat % and are interested in losing fat while following the program
here are the best protocols to follow:
1) Again find out what your current maintenance calories are. Use
(https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html) to help you calculate it. Once it
calculates it for you, your actual maintenance may be slightly higher or lower
depending on how much muscle mass you hold. I would highly recommend starting
off with a 300 calorie deficit. The reason why I say a 300 calorie deficit, is because
you want to make your weight loss as slow as possible so you can maintain as much
muscle as possible during fat loss. Losing 1-1.5lbs per week max! So for example, if
your maintenance calories are at 3000 calories you want to start off with a 2700
calorie deficit. Only when your weight loss has plateaued then you can further
decrease your calories by another 150 calories or you can choose to do cardio to burn
an extra 150 calories, your choice. I also want you to keep in mind that it is very
possible to gain muscle while losing fat so make sure to use your mirror for a source
of feedback in terms of your progress
2) Macronutrient-wise, make sure you consume 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight
minimum. Feel free to consume even more protein, protein is going to help you stay
full/satiated when you are trying to lose fat & ofcourse during your cut you don’t
want to feel like you are starving. Make sure a minimum of 20% of your calories is
coming from fat, but 20-25% is a good range, and the rest of your calories come from
carbohydrates! Do not be afraid to eat carbohydrates, carbs give you energy for your
workouts and also play a role in helping you retain your muscle mass when cutting
calories!
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B ODY
R E C OMP O S I T I O N
For those who are not interested in gaining or losing weight and want to lose fat and gain
muscle simultaneously.
1) You need to eat at your current maintenance calories. Again use
(https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html) to find out your maintenance
calories if you don’t know what it is currently. However this is just an estimate your
maintenance calories may be slightly under or even slightly above the estimated
maintenance calories. Keep in mind performing a body recomp is a slower process
and takes time before you start seeing changes in your body!
2) Your macronutrient intake is very important. Your protein intake should be at
minimum 1g per lb of bodyweight, Set your fat intake at anything between 20-25% of
your calories and the remaining calories coming from carbohydrates.
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Email: mikaminlew@gmail.com
Instagram: mikahail_lewis
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