Upper lower split: routine, exercises, and weekly schedule

    An upper/lower split divides your training into upper-body days and lower-body days. I run one four days a week: Monday upper, Tuesday lower, rest, Thursday upper, Friday lower. That gives me two full cycles through every muscle group. For anyone who can schedule four sessions a week, I think it's the most efficient way to grow strength without the fatigue of a full-body program. The rest of this page lays out the exact template, rep schemes, and how to progress.

    The upper/lower split is straightforward: you train your upper body one session, your lower body the next, then repeat. That's it. No complicated rotations, no weekly undulating periodization to decipher. For intermediate lifters looking to increase frequency without doubling gym time, it's one of the most efficient templates around. Research shows training each muscle group twice per week leads to slightly greater hypertrophy than once per week [1], and the upper/lower split delivers that naturally. You hit chest, back, shoulders, arms on upper days; quads, hamstrings, glutes on lower days, with enough recovery built in. Dorsi can help track these sessions, adjusting volume and intensity based on your recovery data. Below, we break down how to structure the split, common pitfalls, and how to progress over time.

    Practical Playbook

    1. Pick your upper lower frequency

      If you train four days a week, two upper and two lower sessions is the sweet spot. Five days? Add an extra upper or a weak-point day. Upper days hit chest, back, shoulders, arms. Lower days hit quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves. The split works because each major pattern gets hit twice a week with proper recovery in between.

    2. How many exercises per session?

      Stick to 3, 5 compound lifts per day. On upper day, pair a vertical press with a horizontal press, then a vertical pull and a horizontal pull. On lower day, start with a squat variant, then a hinge, then a single-leg movement, and finish with calves. That's enough to drive progress without wrecking you.

    3. Program progressive overload systematically

      Add weight, reps, or sets each week. If you benched 185x8 last upper, go for 185x9 or 190x8 this week. Track everything. If you stall two weeks in a row, deload. Rotate which lift you push hardest, don't try to PR on every exercise every session. Steady beats heroic.

    4. When should you deload?

      After four to six weeks of consistent training, take a deload week. Drop volume by 40, 60% or intensity by 10, 15%. Your CNS needs the break. I do the same movements but lighter and fewer sets. You come back stronger. Ignore the bros who say never deload; they're either on gear or injured.

    Common Mistakes

    • Mistake
      Running the same two upper-body days with the exact same exercises and just swapping the order.
      Why
      Your body adapts fast. If Monday's upper is identical to Thursday's upper, same bench press, same row, same lateral raise, you're missing the opportunity to target different angles, rep ranges, or weaknesses.
      Fix
      Design each upper session with a different emphasis: one day a horizontal press with a vertical pull, the other a vertical press with a horizontal pull. Hit a strength rep range on one day and hypertrophy reps on the other.
    • Mistake
      Making both lower-body days quad-dominant back-to-back.
      Why
      Almost wrecked my knee doing that for eight weeks. If both days center on a squat pattern, high-bar squat Monday, front squat Friday, your posterior chain stays underdeveloped and your knees take the brunt.
      Fix
      Dedicate one lower day to a squat variant (quad focus) and the other to a hinge variant like a deadlift or hip thrust (hamstring/glute focus). You'll balance the legs and reduce overuse.
    • Mistake
      Ignoring recovery and hitting legs twice a week when your job involves standing all day.
      Why
      The split assumes you can recover from two hard leg sessions in a week. If you're on your feet 40 hours, you're already accumulating fatigue that the split doesn't account for. You'll burn out or stall.
      Fix
      Adjust frequency: try one heavy leg day and one lighter, skill-based leg day (speed squats, single-leg work). Or swap to a full-body plan for a block. The split should serve your life, not the other way around.

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