The Upper/Lower Split, Explained

The upper/lower split divides your week into upper-body days and lower-body days, typically two of each. Every muscle gets trained twice a week, each session has room for six to nine sets per muscle, and three rest days keep recovery comfortable. It's the most versatile split there is: it works for hypertrophy, strength, and general fitness, for intermediates and advanced lifters alike, and it fits into a four-day week without any rotation to keep track of. Here's how it works and how to set it up.

How the upper/lower split works

Upper days cover chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Lower days cover quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and usually core. The standard four-day layout is:

Any arrangement with at least one rest day between the two upper sessions and between the two lower sessions works. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday is a common alternative if you prefer to keep Friday free.

Why it works

Twice-weekly frequency. A 2016 meta-analysis found that training each muscle two or more times per week produced more growth than once. Upper/lower delivers that on four days, without the six-day commitment that push/pull/legs asks for.

Volume without marathon sessions. With only half the body per day, you can give each muscle three or four exercises and still finish in 60–75 minutes. On a full-body day the same volume would take two hours.

Built-in recovery. Three rest days a week, and the lower body always has at least two days between sessions. That matters more the heavier you train: a heavy squat day on Monday and Thursday is sustainable; Monday and Wednesday often isn't.

Two different sessions per body half. Upper A and Upper B don't have to be the same workout. One can be heavier and barbell-focused, the other lighter and more dumbbell- or machine-based. That variation lets you train different rep ranges without any extra planning.

Scheduling variants

Four days is the sweet spot. Three days works if you rotate honestly across two weeks, though full-body training usually gets more from three sessions. Six days of upper/lower is high frequency with high fatigue; most people who want six days are better off with push/pull/legs.

Heavy day, volume day

The most effective way to run the two sessions per half is to make one heavy and one lighter.

• A days (heavy): main compound lifts for 4–6 sets of 4–8 reps, longer rests, fewer accessories
• B days (volume): different compound variations for 8–12 reps, then more isolation work in the 12–20 range

This gives you strength progression on the A days and growth-focused volume on the B days, and stops both sessions from stressing the same joints the same way twice a week.

The complete 4-day upper/lower program

Rest 2–3 minutes between sets on the first two exercises of each session and 60–90 seconds on the rest.

Upper A (heavy)

Lower A (heavy)

Upper B (volume)

Lower B (volume)

Total volume lands around 12–16 hard sets per muscle per week, which suits most intermediates. Newer lifters can drop a set from each exercise; advanced lifters can add a set to the priority muscles. Sets per muscle per week explains how to adjust.

Exercise selection rules

You don't have to use these exact exercises. Every upper day should include a horizontal press, a vertical press, a horizontal pull, and a vertical pull, followed by direct shoulder and arm work. Every lower day should include a squat pattern, a hinge pattern, a single-leg movement, direct hamstring work, and calves. Swap movements for ones your gym has and your joints tolerate, but keep the patterns.

Solving the crowded upper day

The most common complaint about upper/lower is that arms and side delts get trained last, tired, and half-heartedly. Three fixes:

1. Alternate what goes first. Start Upper A with pressing and Upper B with pulling so neither chest nor back is always fresh.
2. Superset the small stuff. Pair curls with pushdowns and lateral raises with face pulls. Same volume, ten minutes shorter.
3. Give arms a slot on lower day. Two sets of curls and pushdowns at the end of Lower B costs five minutes, and lower-body fatigue doesn't interfere.

If arms or shoulders are a genuine priority, the five-day variant with a third upper session is the cleanest solution.

Progressing the program

On the heavy A days, add weight when you hit the top of the rep range on every set. On the volume B days, add reps first and weight second, using the double progression method described in the progressive overload guide. Log everything. A deload every six to eight weeks keeps the joints happy and the progression going.

Common upper/lower mistakes

• Making both upper days identical. You lose the heavy/volume variation and the joints take the same stress twice a week.
• Skipping the second lower day. Lower B is easier to skip because it's Friday and it's legs. It's also half your leg volume.
• Too much on upper day. Eight exercises with four sets each is a two-hour session. Cap upper sessions at six to eight exercises with two to four sets each.
• Ignoring the rest days. Running upper and lower back to back for a week straight with no day off defeats the layout.

Who the upper/lower split is for

It's the default recommendation for anyone with four training days who has more than a few months of experience. Beginners will usually progress faster on a three-day full-body routine first. Lifters with six days and a strong appetite for volume may prefer push/pull/legs; the trade-offs are covered in push/pull/legs vs upper/lower. And if you're not sure which structure suits what you're training for, choosing the right split for your goal lays out the options.

Run it without the spreadsheet

An upper/lower split is easy to describe and surprisingly fiddly to run well: two versions of each day, different progression rules for heavy and volume sessions, and a rotation to keep straight when a rest day lands in the wrong place. Gimmy builds the four-day layout around your schedule, tracks which version of each day is next, and tells you what weight to load based on what you did last time, so the only decision left is showing up.

Frequently asked questions