Upper / Lower

A four-day upper/lower plan for trainees with some lifting experience who want to distribute hypertrophy work across four weekly sessions. Upper 1 and Upper 2 combine horizontal and vertical pressing and pulling; Lower 1 and Lower 2 use different emphases across squat-dominant, hinge-dominant, and unilateral work. The Full Gym variant uses barbells, dumbbells, cables, machines, and bodyweight exercises; the Dumbbells variant requires dumbbells, a bench, and a pull-up bar.

Who is this plan for?

• Trainees with basic strength-training experience who can reliably schedule four sessions per week
• Hypertrophy as the primary goal and a preference for a classic upper/lower split
• Access to a full gym for the Full Gym variant, or dumbbells, a bench, and a pull-up bar for the Dumbbells variant
• chin-up should already be manageable for multiple repetitions; it is programmed in both variants

How it works

• Four-day split: Upper 1, Lower 1, Upper 2, and Lower 2 are each trained once per week. The same weekly structure then repeats.
• Different emphases: Upper 1 starts with flat pressing, while Upper 2 starts with incline pressing. Lower 1 is more squat-dominant, while Lower 2 shifts more emphasis toward hip extension and unilateral work.
• Exercise order: Larger compound movements come early in the session; shoulder, arm, calf, and core accessory work generally comes later.
• Double progression for loaded exercises: Reps increase within each exercise's target range. Once the top of the range is reached on every set, load increases by the configured step and reps return to the bottom of the range. After two consecutive failed attempts, load is reduced by 10%.
• Bodyweight exercises: In both variants, chin-up and hanging leg raise progress by repetitions. In the Dumbbells variant, walking lunge and wide grip pull-up do as well. Completing every set at the target adds one rep to the target; after three consecutive failed attempts, the target is reduced by two reps.

Pros & Limitations

Muscles trained

Avg. hits per week · Primary 1.0 · Secondary 0.5

Variant