Upper/Lower Split: 4-Day Sample Week and Exercises
An upper/lower split divides your week into upper-body days and lower-body days. Run it four days a week (upper, lower, rest, upper, lower) and every major muscle is trained twice a week with enough rest between sessions. It suits lifters who can train three to four days and want a balance of strength and size work.
How it works
- Upper days: chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps.
- Lower days: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and often some core.
Because each session covers half the body, you can spend more time on each lift than in a full-body session, while still training each muscle twice. That makes it a middle path between full body and push/pull/legs.
Is it right for you?
It fits well if:
- You can train four days a week, or want a plan that also works for three.
- You want to train each muscle about twice a week without six-day weeks.
- You like heavier compound lifts and enough volume for muscle size.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggests 3 to 4 days per week for intermediate lifters [1]. A 2016 meta-analysis found that training a muscle twice a week produced more hypertrophy than once, though it did not control for total volume [2]. A 2019 meta-analysis found no meaningful difference once volume was equated, so frequency can be chosen by preference [3]. Upper/lower gives you the twice-a-week pattern in just four sessions.
Sample week
| Day | Session | |---|---| | Mon | Upper A | | Tue | Lower A | | Wed | Rest | | Thu | Upper B | | Fri | Lower B | | Sat | Rest or easy cardio | | Sun | Rest |
If you can only train three days, run Upper, Lower, Upper one week and Lower, Upper, Lower the next.
Upper A (heavier emphasis)
- Barbell bench press
- Bent-over barbell row
- Standing military press
- Wide-grip lat pulldown
- Triceps pushdown
- Barbell curl
Lower A
Upper B (more volume emphasis)
- Incline dumbbell press
- Seated cable rows
- Seated dumbbell press
- Pullups
- Side lateral raise
- Hammer curls
- Face pull
Lower B
- Front barbell squat
- Barbell hip thrust
- Dumbbell lunges
- Seated leg curl
- Leg extensions
- Seated calf raise
- Plank
Sets, reps, and rest
The ACSM recommends loads from 1 to 12 RM in a periodized way, with emphasis on 6 to 12 RM for hypertrophy [1]. Heavy lifts may deserve longer rests. A common way to apply this is heavier loads at the low end of that range on the "A" days and lighter loads at the high end on the "B" days. Treat that as an example, since individual results vary.
For a starting layout, 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps on most lifts is a common starting point. It is the protocol used in a rest-interval study of resistance-trained men, which found 3-minute rests beat 1-minute rests for strength and thigh size [4]. Weekly volume has a graded relationship with growth: more weekly sets per muscle were linked to more gains across studies [5]. Add sets slowly and watch your recovery.
The ACSM also recommends doing large-muscle, multi-joint exercises before small-muscle, single-joint ones [1], which is how the lists above are ordered.
Tips
- Keep the "A" and "B" lifts mostly the same for several weeks, so progress is easy to see. See the progressive overload guide.
- Eat enough protein. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg of body weight per day is sufficient for most exercising people [6]. See how to count macros.
- If a muscle is behind, add a few sets for it on one of the two days.
- Not sure this is the right split? See how to choose a workout split.
Doing this in Liftrung
Liftrung's workout logger shows what you did last time beside every set, so you can see the weight and reps to beat as you lift. The gem ladder tracks each muscle group against your own baseline, so you can watch each one's progress over time.
Key points
- Upper/lower trains each muscle twice a week in four sessions.
- It sits between full-body and push/pull/legs in time and volume.
- Use 6 to 12 reps for most lifts [1], and rest longer on heavy compounds.
- Progress by adding reps, then weight, then sets.
Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19204579/
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med, 2016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27102172/
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Krieger J. How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci, 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30558493/
- Schoenfeld BJ, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res, 2016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26605807/
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass. J Sports Sci, 2017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27433992/
- Jäger R, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28642676/