4-day upper/lower · hypertrophy

Upper/Lower for muscle, four days a week.

Every muscle trained twice a week, each session under an hour, and a progression rule you can actually follow. This is the split most intermediate lifters should be on.

Who it's for

You've been lifting for at least six months, you can train four days a week, and your main goal is to build muscle. If you're a beginner, start with the 3-day full body programme first; it'll get you further, faster.

The week

Upper, Lower, rest, Upper, Lower, rest, rest is the classic layout (Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri). Any arrangement works as long as you don't put the two lower days back to back.

Day 1

Upper A

Barbell bench press: 3 sets of 6–8, rest 3 min
Barbell row: 3 sets of 6–8, rest 3 min
Overhead press: 3 sets of 8–10, rest 2 min
Lat pulldown: 3 sets of 10–12, rest 90 s
Incline dumbbell press: 2 sets of 10–12, rest 90 s
Cable curl: 2 sets of 12–15 · Rope pushdown: 2 sets of 12–15

Day 2

Lower A

Back squat: 3 sets of 6–8, rest 3 min
Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 8–10, rest 3 min
Leg press: 3 sets of 10–12, rest 2 min
Leg curl: 3 sets of 10–12, rest 90 s
Standing calf raise: 4 sets of 10–12, rest 60 s
Hanging knee raise: 3 sets of 10–15

Day 3

Upper B

Weighted pull-up (or pulldown): 3 sets of 6–8, rest 3 min
Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets of 8–10, rest 2 min
Seated cable row: 3 sets of 10–12, rest 90 s
Dumbbell lateral raise: 3 sets of 12–15, rest 60 s
Chest-supported row: 2 sets of 10–12, rest 90 s
Hammer curl: 2 sets of 10–12 · Overhead triceps extension: 2 sets of 10–12

Day 4

Lower B

Deadlift: 3 sets of 4–6, rest 3–4 min
Front squat or hack squat: 3 sets of 8–10, rest 2–3 min
Walking lunge: 2 sets of 10 each leg, rest 90 s
Leg extension: 3 sets of 12–15, rest 60 s
Seated calf raise: 4 sets of 12–15, rest 60 s
Cable crunch: 3 sets of 12–15

How to progress it

Every exercise has a rep range. Pick a weight where your first set lands at the bottom of the range with one or two reps in reserve. Each week, try to add reps. When every set hits the top of the range, add weight next session (2.5 kg on upper-body barbell lifts, 5 kg on lower, the smallest jump on dumbbells and machines) and start again at the bottom of the range.

That's double progression, and it works for years. The bit people get wrong is the judgement calls: what to do when you hit the top on set one but not set three, when to take weight off after a bad week, when a missed session means repeating the week. That judgement is the job Adaptive Strength Coach does for you: it looks at what you logged and sets next session's targets, so you only think about the set in front of you.

How long to run it

Eight to twelve weeks, then take a lighter week (same exercises, two sets each, weights 10% down) and go again. Swap an exercise only when it stops progressing for three weeks in a row, and swap it for something that hits the same muscle.

Run this programme in the app

Adaptive Strength Coach ships this split as a starting template. It logs your sets and sets the weights; you lift. 14 days free, then a flat monthly or annual price.

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