Build Muscle
Upper / Lower Split
Four days a week, alternating upper body and lower body, with the two halves of the week taking different angles on the same muscles.
- Days a week
- 4
- A session
- 60 min
- Sessions in it
- 4
- Split
- Upper / Lower (4×/Week), Double Progression
How it runs
Upper A and Lower A are the heavy days; Upper B and Lower B are the volume days — different lifts, not the same session run with different numbers.
What you actually train
4 sessions, in order. Every movement links to how to do it.
Upper A (Heavy)
7 movements
Superset — no rest between these
- Barbell Bench Press4 sets of 6 reps
- Barbell Bent-Over Row4 sets of 8 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press4 sets of 9 reps
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip)4 sets of 10 reps
Circuit — straight through, then rest
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise3 sets of 14 reps
- Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension3 sets of 12 reps
- Barbell Curl4 sets of 10 reps
Lower A (Squat-Led)
6 movements
- Barbell Back Squat4 sets of 6 reps
- Romanian Deadlift4 sets of 9 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Leg Press3 sets of 12 reps
- Lying Leg Curl (Machine)4 sets of 12 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Standing Calf Raise5 sets of 12 reps
- Hanging Leg Raise5 sets of 10 reps
Upper B (Volume)
8 movements
Superset — no rest between these
- Incline Barbell Bench Press4 sets of 9 reps
- Seated Cable Row4 sets of 10 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Chin-Up4 sets of 8 reps
- Cable Crossover3 sets of 13 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Face Pull5 sets of 16 reps
- Cable Lateral Raise3 sets of 14 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Hammer Curl3 sets of 11 reps
- Triceps Rope Pushdown3 sets of 12 reps
Lower B (Hip-Led)
6 movements
- Front Squat4 sets of 7 reps
- 45-Degree Back Extension4 sets of 12 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Bulgarian Split Squat3 sets of 16 reps
- Seated Leg Curl (Machine)4 sets of 12 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Seated Calf Raise5 sets of 13 reps
- Cable Crunch (Kneeling)5 sets of 12 reps
Why it works
- Every muscle group is trained twice a week at eleven to seventeen hard sets, which is the range most people actually grow on.
- Heavy days build strength at five to eight reps; volume days chase reps at eight to eighteen. They do different jobs and neither replaces the other.
- Load moves by double progression: work the bottom of the rep range, and add weight only once every set reaches the top of it.
- Every set carries an effort target, so “hard enough” is a number rather than a feeling.
- Stalling has a rule — drop that lift ten per cent and build back — so a bad fortnight does not turn into a lost block.
Warm up with two or three ramping sets of the day's first lift. The three days you are not training are part of the programme: easy cardio you could hold a conversation through sits alongside it, interval work and a second lifting programme do not.
What to expect
Expect the heavy days to be the short ones and the volume days to be the ones that leave you breathing hard.
Before you start
Before you start, please read this part. Lifting is among the safest and most useful things most people can do, and there is a short list of exceptions worth checking yourself against first.
If you have a heart or lung condition, chest pain or pressure at rest or on effort, dizziness or blackouts, blood pressure or diabetes that is not currently controlled, a hernia, low bone density or osteoporosis, a joint or back problem that is flaring, or you are pregnant or within a year of giving birth, speak to your GP or a physiotherapist before starting and follow their instruction over anything written here.
Stop the set and get advice for chest pain or tightness, breathlessness out of proportion to the effort, dizziness, or a sudden sharp pain in a joint or the back.
Stop it as well for pain, numbness, pins and needles or weakness that travels down an arm or a leg, and get that seen before you load the pattern again. This programme puts a loaded bar on your back and on your shoulders.
Use a rack with the safety pins set at the depth you squat to, and do not bench alone without them. Nothing here is medical advice.
What you need
- Barbell
- Dumbbell
- Cable Machine
- Machine
- Bench
- Pull-Up Bar
- Back Extension Bench