In this article, we will give you a 4-week weight loss workout plan to kick start your weight loss journey today. This plan can be helpful for beginners as well as intermediates.

If you are just starting off your journey to lose weight or maybe tried have already tried but you are feeling lost then read on. Losing weight is not a piece of cake and it gets even worse when you don’t have a plan. So, let us share this 4 week workout plan approved by professional trainers to aid in weight loss.

So let’s first have a look at the structure of the plan without any further delay.

Weight Loss Workout Plan Structure

So, in this plan there are going to be 3 types of training:

• upper and lower body strength training
• interval training/conditioning
• low-intensity cardio

The strength training will help you build muscle and strength that you can apply to your interval training.

Furthermore, the added muscle will increase your metabolism over time, meaning you’ll burn more calories at rest just to sustain yourself, which can contribute to the calorie deficit required for weight loss.

Interval training will provide a massive metabolic boost immediately after your workout. Interval training involves brief periods of high-intensity exercise followed by relatively short rest periods.

This method keeps your heart rate elevated throughout the workout, giving you aerobic benefits while maintaining sufficient intensity to stoke your metabolic fire.

Finally, low-intensity cardio, such as walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling, gives you a slight bump in your daily calorie burn and allows you to exercise while recovering from the more intense strength and interval training.

You can perform an hour or more of cardio, but even just 20 minutes is sufficient.

Each workout should take roughly 20–22 minutes, allowing you to fit the program into a busy schedule.

Over the course of 4 weeks, this workout structure helps target weight loss on all fronts, through both daily calorie burn and increase your metabolism over time.

Start with a lighter weight and increase the weight of each set until you find the point where the final repetition gets really hard.

Week 1

Day 1: Lower body strength

Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl and/or leg extension machines

1. 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
2. 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
3. 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 on each side)
4. Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension in the gym

Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

• Choose walking, light jogging, or your preferred method of cardio — even better if you can do it outside!

Day 3: Upper body strength

Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown machine, dumbbells

1. 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
2. 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
3. 3×12 dumbbell row
4. 3×12 dumbbell bench press
5. Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension

Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

Day 5: Interval conditioning

Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball

Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise. I’ve included two options you can choose between, depending on your current level.

Exercises focus on lower body movements performed at a moderate to high pace.

The large muscle groups in this area help get your heart pumping much more effectively than exercises using smaller muscle groups.

For Week 1, perform 3 rounds of the following as discussed above:

1. Squat or jump squat
2. Box stepup or power stepup
3. Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
4. Lateral box step up or ice skater
5. Burpee

Week 2

Week 2 involves the same exercises as Week 1. However, you should be performing 1 warmup set and then switching to the weight you finished with last week and, if possible, increasing the weight of each set.

Bump up the intensity or duration of your cardio sessions by 5–10%. Be sure to keep it light enough that you can perform a minimum of 20 minutes without stopping.

For the conditioning, perform 4 total rounds instead of 3.

Day 1: Lower body strength

Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells,s and plates, leg curl/extension machines

1. 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
2. 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
3. 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 on each side)
4. Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

• Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 1.

Day 3: Upper body strength

Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells

1. 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
2. 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
3. 3×12 dumbbell row
4. 3×12 dumbbell bench press
5. Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

Day 5: Conditioning

Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball

Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.

For Week 2, perform 4 rounds of the following as discussed above:

1. Squat or jump squat
2. Box stepup or power stepup
3. Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
4. Lateral box step up or ice skater
5. Burpee

Week 3

In Week 3, I reduce the repetitions on the resistance training to 8 per set, which should allow you to increase the weight relative to your 12-rep sets.

If you can, begin performing barbell movements instead of using dumbbells, but either one is OK.

This takes the muscular endurance and movement proficiency from Weeks 1 and 2 and triggers more strength and muscle growth.

Bump up your cardio another 5–10% and perform 5 total cycles of your interval training.

Day 1: Lower body strength

Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells and plates, leg curl/extension machines

1. 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
2. 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
3. 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 on each side)
4. Optional: 3×10 leg curl and leg extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

• Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 2.

Day 3: Upper body strength

Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells

1. 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
2. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
3. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell row
4. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
5. Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

Day 5: Interval training/conditioning

Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball

Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.

For Week 3, perform 5 rounds of the following:

1. Squat or jump squat
2. Box stepup or power stepup
3. Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
4. Lateral box step up or ice skater
5. Burpee

Week 4

There is nothing particularly special about Week 4.

You will continue increasing the weight on the strength exercises, bumping up your aerobic intensity, and performing a full 6 rounds of conditioning. If this is too intense, you can dial back as needed.

Day 1: Lower body strength

Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells, and plates, leg curl/extension machines

1. 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
2. 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
3. 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 on each side)
4. Optional: 3×10 leg curl and extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

• Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 3.

Day 3: Upper body strength

Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells

1. 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
2. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
3. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell rows
4. 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
5. Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)

Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.

Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes

Day 5: Interval training/conditioning

Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball

Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.

For Week 4, perform 6 rounds of the following:

1. Squat or jump squat
2. Box stepup or power stepup
3. Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
4. Lateral box step up or ice skater
5. Burpee

Healthy Weight Loss Goal Setting

The typical weight loss recommendation is to lose 1 pound of body fat per week, which is achieved through a 500-calorie deficit per day.

With the above program, you may be able to further lose weight by hitting more than a 500-calorie deficit, but this is difficult for most people.

I should mention that losing a pound of fat per week typically results in more than a pound of scale weight lost due to lost water weight.

While a pound of fat per week might not sound like much, if you are currently overweight, losing even small amounts of weight can result in drastic improvements to your health.

Given that weight maintenance is a long-term process, think of my 4-week program as a way to kick-start your journey as opposed to a one-stop shop for weight loss.

The bottom line

There is no magic formula for weight loss other than burning more calories than you consume. Still, there are better and worse ways of approaching this goal.

Combining frequent exercise with a healthy lifestyle is ultimately the most reliable method to improve your health.

My 4-week program is a great way to kick-start your weight loss exercise training, explore the fundamentals of fitness, and hopefully get fired up about exercising long-term.

Always remember that, ideally, fitness should be fun.

Nobody has the final answer on the best way to stay active, but it all starts with your first workout.

Cheers to an active lifestyle!