Upper Lower Split: The Complete 4-Day Guide With Workouts

An upper/lower split divides training into two session types. Upper days cover chest, back, shoulders, and arms. Lower days cover quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The standard schedule is 4 days per week: upper, lower, rest, upper, lower, weekend off.

The appeal is almost suspiciously ordinary: the two-session cycle fits a four-day week without rotating weekdays or cramming one muscle's work into a single visit. A 2019 meta-analysis of 25 studies found no meaningful hypertrophy advantage to higher frequency when weekly volume was matched. Upper/lower works well because it distributes the work cleanly, not because twice weekly is a magic frequency.

What is an upper lower split?

Instead of sorting exercises by movement pattern like push pull legs, upper/lower gives each half of the body two dedicated sessions per week:

The A/B structure keeps the week useful. One common approach uses lower rep ranges and more barbell work on A days, then moderate rep ranges and more machines or dumbbells on B days. You practise heavier lifting, accumulate hypertrophy work, and avoid replaying Monday on Thursday.

The heavy days emphasize lower rep ranges and barbell work. The volume days use moderate rep ranges and more stable dumbbell, cable, or machine exercises.

The 4-day upper lower workout

A complete Hypro editorial upper/lower example with public exercise guides, movement images, sets, and rep ranges. It is separate from protected Premium plans.

1

Upper A

Heavy emphasis

1. 
   Barbell Bench Press4 sets × 5-8 reps
2. 
   Bent Over Rows4 sets × 6-8 reps
3. 
   Barbell Overhead Press3 sets × 6-10 reps
4. 
   Lat Pulldown3 sets × 8-10 reps
5. 
   Dumbbell Bicep Curl2 sets × 10-12 reps
6. 
   Triceps Pushdown Rope2 sets × 10-12 reps

2

Lower A

Heavy emphasis

1. 
   Barbell Squats4 sets × 5-8 reps
2. 
   Romanian Deadlift3 sets × 8-10 reps
3. 
   Leg Press3 sets × 10-12 reps
4. 
   Lying Leg Curl3 sets × 10-12 reps
5. 
   Standing Calf Raise4 sets × 10-12 reps

3

Upper B

Volume emphasis

1. 
   Incline Bench Dumbbell Press4 sets × 10-12 reps
2. 
   Cable Row Narrow Grip4 sets × 10-12 reps
3. 
   Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press3 sets × 10-15 reps
4. 
   Dumbbell Lateral Raise3 sets × 12-15 reps
5. 
   Cable Face Pull2 sets × 15-20 reps
6. 
   EZ Bar Curl2 sets × 12-15 reps

4

Lower B

Volume emphasis

1. 
   Leg Press4 sets × 10-15 reps
2. 
   Bulgarian Split Squats Dumbbell3 sets × 10-12 per leg reps
3. 
   Stiff Legs Deadlift3 sets × 10-12 reps
4. 
   Leg Extension3 sets × 12-15 reps
5. 
   Seated Calf Raise4 sets × 12-15 reps

Keep most working sets around 1-3 RIR. Rest 2-3 minutes on compounds and 60-90 seconds on isolation work, extending the rest when needed to preserve performance (rest guide). Progress using double progression: add reps until the top of the range, then add weight.

4-Day Upper/Lower plan in HyproPreview the plan and try one demo day for free. Test the complete plan during Hypro's 7-day Premium trial.hypro.app

Weekly volume: does upper/lower hit the targets?

Count the direct work in the routine before adding overlap: chest gets 8 sets, back about 11, shoulders about 9-11 depending on how you classify face pulls, quads 17 including Bulgarian split squats, and hamstrings 9. Those are values from this program, not universal targets. Indirect work should be counted fractionally rather than treated as another full set (Pelland et al., 2026).

To bring up a lagging muscle, add 2-4 weekly sets for it and hold everything else constant for 4-6 weeks. The weekly sets calculator gives per-muscle targets matched to your schedule and focus.

Upper lower vs PPL vs full body

A 2024 meta-analysis of 14 studies found no hypertrophy difference between split types at equal volume. Choose by available days:

• 3 days: full body. Highest frequency for the session count.
• 4 days: upper/lower. The cycle divides evenly, every muscle 2x/week.
• 5-6 days: push/pull/legs. More focus per session at high volume.

The most common upper/lower complaint is long upper sessions: upper days cover five muscle groups. Cap upper sessions at 6 exercises and superset biceps/triceps work to stay under an hour.

For a broader comparison of every split type by training days, see the best workout split guide.

Beginner 4-Day Upper/Lower plan in HyproPreview the beginner plan and try one demo day for free. Test the complete plan during Hypro's 7-day Premium trial.hypro.app