Upper Lower Split: 4-Day Workout Plan (Free Template)

By Alex Lawrence · Updated 30 October 2026

An upper lower split trains your upper body on two days and your lower body on two days each week, so every muscle gets worked twice a week in four sessions of about an hour. Below is a free four-day template you can follow as written, with sets, reps, rest times and a simple rule for when to add weight.

What is an upper lower split?

An upper lower split is a weekly plan that alternates upper-body days (chest, back, shoulders, arms) with lower-body days (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves). The classic version runs four days a week: Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B.

The “A” and “B” days use different main lifts and rep ranges. That gives you two different looks at each muscle every week without repeating the same session.

Who is the upper lower split for?

It suits most people who can get to the gym four days a week and have a few months of lifting behind them. It is a common next step after a full-body beginner plan.

It works well if you:

want to build muscle and strength at the same time
can train four days but not five or six
like sessions that finish in about an hour
want each muscle trained twice a week

If you can only train three days, a full-body plan or a 3-day push pull legs routine fits better.

Why train each muscle twice a week?

Training a muscle twice a week appears to build more muscle than once a week when weekly volume is the same. A 2016 meta-analysis found that twice-weekly training gave better hypertrophy than once a week; whether three times beats twice was still unclear.

For strength, a 2018 meta-analysis found that frequency mattered less once weekly volume was matched. In other words, the total number of hard sets you do counts most, and spreading them over two sessions makes that volume easier to get through. An upper lower split does exactly that.

The 4-day upper lower schedule

The simplest schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday and the weekend off.

Day	Session	Focus
Monday	Upper A	Heavier pressing and rowing
Tuesday	Lower A	Squat focus
Wednesday	Rest	Walk, stretch or rest
Thursday	Upper B	Higher-rep, overhead and vertical pull
Friday	Lower B	Hinge (deadlift) focus
Saturday	Rest	Optional light cardio
Sunday	Rest	Full rest

Any four days work. Try not to put both lower days back to back, and keep at least one rest day between Lower A and Lower B.

Upper A workout

Upper A is the heavier upper day, built around the bench press and the barbell row.

Exercise	Sets × reps	Rest
Barbell bench press	4 × 5-8	2-3 min
Barbell row	4 × 6-10	2-3 min
Seated dumbbell shoulder press	3 × 8-12	90 s
Lat pulldown	3 × 8-12	90 s
EZ-bar curl	3 × 10-12	60-90 s
Triceps rope pushdown	3 × 10-12	60-90 s

Lower A workout

Lower A is the squat day, with a hamstring and calf finish.

Exercise	Sets × reps	Rest
Back squat	4 × 5-8	2-3 min
Romanian deadlift	3 × 8-10	2 min
Leg press	3 × 10-12	90 s
Seated or lying leg curl	3 × 10-12	60-90 s
Standing calf raise	4 × 10-15	60 s
Plank	3 × 30-60 s	60 s

Upper B workout

Upper B swaps the main lifts for an overhead press and a vertical pull, with slightly higher reps.

Exercise	Sets × reps	Rest
Standing overhead press	4 × 6-8	2-3 min
Pull-up or assisted pull-up	4 × 6-10	2 min
Incline dumbbell press	3 × 8-12	90 s
Seated cable row	3 × 10-12	90 s
Dumbbell lateral raise	3 × 12-15	60 s
Face pull	3 × 12-15	60 s

Lower B workout

Lower B is built around the deadlift, with single-leg work for balance between sides.

Exercise	Sets × reps	Rest
Deadlift	3 × 4-6	3 min
Front squat or hack squat	3 × 8-10	2 min
Bulgarian split squat	3 × 8-12 each leg	90 s
Leg extension	3 × 12-15	60 s
Seated calf raise	4 × 12-15	60 s
Hanging knee raise	3 × 10-15	60 s

Weekly volume: this works out at roughly 8-12 hard sets per major muscle group each week. A 2017 meta-analysis found a graded dose-response between weekly sets and muscle growth, so if you recover well after a few months you can add a set to the exercises for muscles you want to bring up.

Swaps: any exercise can be swapped for one that trains the same muscle in a similar way, for example a machine chest press for the incline dumbbell press. Keep the swap for at least a few weeks so you can track progress on it.

How long to rest between sets

Rest 2-3 minutes on the big compound lifts and 60-90 seconds on smaller accessory exercises. The ACSM position stand suggests 1-2 minutes for hypertrophy work and 3-5 minutes for heavy strength work.

One trial in trained men found 3-minute rests built more strength and muscle than 1-minute rests when everything else was the same. So don’t rush your main lifts: start the next set when your breathing has settled and you can match your last set’s reps.

How to progress: double progression

Use double progression: add reps first, then add weight. Each exercise has a rep range (for example 6-10). Pick a weight you can lift for the bottom of the range with good form.

Each session, try to add a rep to one or more sets.
When you hit the top of the range on every set, add weight next session.
The new weight will drop you back towards the bottom of the range. Build the reps up again.

Example: barbell row, 4 × 6-10 at 60 kg (132 lb).

Week	Reps at 60 kg (132 lb)	Next step
1	8, 7, 7, 6	Keep weight
3	10, 9, 9, 8	Keep weight
5	10, 10, 10, 10	Add weight
6	62.5 kg (138 lb): 8, 7, 7, 7	Build reps again

How much to add? The ACSM recommends a 2-10% load increase once you can do one or two reps more than your target. In practice that is usually 2.5 kg (5 lb) on upper-body lifts and 5 kg (10 lb) on squats and deadlifts. Use the plate calculator to work out what to load on the bar.

Effort: finish most sets with about 1-3 reps left in the tank. Going to failure on every set of a heavy squat or deadlift makes recovery harder.

Stalled? If a lift doesn’t move for three sessions in a row, take 10% off and build back up. To track your top-end strength without testing a true max, plug a recent set into the 1RM calculator.

Upper lower vs push pull legs vs full body

All three work if you train hard and progress over time; the best one is the one that fits your week.

Split	Days per week	Each muscle trained	Best for
Full body	2-3	2-3× a week	Beginners, busy weeks
Upper lower	4	2× a week	Intermediates, 4-day schedules
Push pull legs	3 or 6	1× (3-day) or 2× (6-day)	6-day lifters who like shorter, focused sessions

Full body is the easiest to recover from and the best place to start. See our beginner workout plan.
Upper lower gives twice-a-week frequency in only four sessions.
Push pull legs needs six days to hit each muscle twice. Three-day PPL only trains each muscle once a week. Our push pull legs guide has both versions.

Tracking the plan

Write down every set: the weight, the reps and how hard it felt. Without a log, double progression turns into guesswork. You can build these four days as routines in Get Gains, which logs each set and flags new personal bests. The free tier holds up to 3 routines; Pro removes that limit.

If your goal is muscle gain, protein matters too: the protein calculator gives you a daily target.

FAQ

Is an upper lower split good for building muscle?

Yes, it trains every muscle twice a week, which research links to more growth than once a week. Progress still depends on hard sets, steady progression and enough food and sleep.

Can beginners do an upper lower split?

Yes, but most beginners do well on a simpler three-day full-body plan for the first 8-12 weeks. Move to upper lower when you want more volume or a four-day week.

Can I do upper lower 3 days a week?

You can rotate it across three days (Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, then Lower B the following Monday). Each muscle then gets trained about 1.5 times a week, which is less than the four-day version.

Can I add a fifth day?

Yes. Add an optional arms-and-shoulders day or a cardio session. Only add it if your main lifts are still progressing.

How long should I run this plan?

Run it as long as you keep making progress, often many months. Change exercises only when a lift has stalled for several weeks despite a deload.

Should I do cardio on an upper lower split?

Yes, if you want to. The NHS recommends adults also get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. Keep hard cardio away from the hour before Lower days so it doesn’t eat into your squats and deadlifts.

How we wrote this: drafted with AI assistance, then fact-checked against the sources below and edited by Alex Lawrence. Read our editorial policy.