Guide · training splits
Upper Lower split: a four-day plan and how to track it
An Upper Lower split divides the body in two: upper-body days for chest, back, shoulders and arms, lower-body days for legs and core. Run it four days a week and every muscle gets trained twice, with the whole weekend free. It is one of the simplest splits to plan and one of the easiest to keep up.
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Key takeaways
- Two upper days and two lower days a week; every muscle twice a week.
- A and B days use different exercises for the same muscles, so the week stays varied.
- Four days fits Mon / Tue / Thu / Fri; a three-day rotating version works for busy weeks.
- Compare Upper A with your last Upper A, not with Upper B.
What an Upper Lower split is
A training split decides which muscles you train on which day. Upper Lower is the simplest split that still trains everything twice a week: one day for everything above the hips, one day for everything below, repeated. Because the two halves do not share muscles, an upper day never gets in the way of the lower day after it.
Compared with a three-day full body plan, each session is more focused and you can give every muscle more sets. Compared with a Push Pull Legs split, you get the same twice-a-week frequency in four days instead of six.
What goes on each day
These are the four days of IronBuddy's Upper / Lower preset. Every day starts with the heaviest compound movement and ends with the smaller isolation work. Rest 2 minutes after the big presses, pulls and leg work and about a minute after the isolation sets.
| Day | Exercises (sets × reps) |
|---|---|
| Upper AChest, back, shoulders, arms | Machine Chest Press 3×10–12 · Lat Pulldown 3×10–12 · Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 2×10–12 · Seated Cable Row 3×10–12 · Dumbbell Lateral Raise 2×12–15 · Cable Biceps Curl 2×12–15 · Cable Triceps Pushdown 2×12–15 |
| Lower AQuads, hamstrings, calves, core | Leg Press 3×10–12 · Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 3×10–12 · Leg Extension 2×12–15 · Seated Leg Curl 3×12–15 · Standing Calf Raise 3×12–15 · Cable Crunch 2×12–15 |
| Upper BChest, back, shoulders, arms | Incline Machine Chest Press 3×10–12 · Chest-Supported Row 3×10–12 · Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown 3×10–12 · Machine Shoulder Press 2×10–12 · Reverse Pec Deck 2×12–15 · Dumbbell Hammer Curl 2×12–15 · Overhead Cable Triceps Extension 2×12–15 |
| Lower BQuads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, core | Hack Squat 3×10–12 · Hip Thrust 3×10–12 · Bulgarian Split Squat 2×10–12 per leg · Lying Leg Curl 3×12–15 · Seated Calf Raise 3×12–15 · Hanging Knee Raise 2×12–15 |
Swap any exercise for one that suits your gym or your joints: a barbell bench press for the machine press, a leg press for the hack squat, pull-ups for the pulldown. Keep the movement pattern and the sets, and the day still does its job.
Three ways to lay out the week
Four days, two on, one off
Week: Upper A, Lower A, rest, Upper B, Lower B, rest, rest (Mon / Tue / Thu / Fri)
Suits: Most people. Every muscle is trained twice a week, with a full day off in the middle and the weekend free.
Four days, spread out
Week: Upper A, rest, Lower A, rest, Upper B, Lower B, rest
Suits: Lifters who recover slowly or whose weekends are the easiest days to train.
Three days, rotating
Week: Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, then next week Lower B, Upper A, Lower A, and so on
Suits: Busy weeks. Each day still comes round in order, but the cycle takes longer than a calendar week.
Who it suits, and who should pick something else
- Good for: anyone who can train four days a week and wants a plan that needs no thinking. Beginners after a few months of full body work, and intermediates who want more sets per muscle than a full body day allows.
- Watch out for: upper days are long. Seven exercises for chest, back, shoulders and arms takes most people 60 to 75 minutes. If that is too long, drop the last isolation exercise on each upper day rather than rushing the compounds.
- Pick something else if: you can only train twice a week (use full body), or you want a dedicated day for a lagging muscle group (a bro split or PHAT gives you that).
How to track an Upper Lower split
- Compare A with A. Upper A and Upper B train the same muscles with different exercises, so progress shows up when you compare this Upper A with your last Upper A, two sessions ago. IronBuddy does this per exercise automatically.
- Progress the compounds first. When you hit 12 reps on every set of the leg press or chest press, add weight next time and drop back to 10. The progressive overload guide explains this double progression step by step.
- Check the balance. Two upper and two lower days should give chest, back and legs a similar number of sets each week. If your Muscle Balance shows back far below chest, add a set to the rows rather than the presses.
- Note the small things. Seat height on the chest press, the pin on the cable stack, which side you started the split squats on. A number that looks wrong later usually has a note that explains it.
Running Upper Lower in IronBuddy
IronBuddy includes Upper / Lower as one of its ten preset splits, with the exercises above, a rep range and a rest time on every exercise. It is listed as Beginner and set to Mon / Tue / Thu / Fri; change the days with Edit Week.
- Open Splits, filter the presets if you like, and open Upper / Lower.
- Tap Set active. Home shows this week's days with their status, and Edit Week puts each day on the weekday you train.
- Swap any exercise for one your gym has. The first time you edit a preset, IronBuddy saves your version under My splits and leaves the preset as it was.
- Open each day from Home, enter reps and weight (and any drop sets or supersets), then tap Log workout. The summary compares every exercise with last time.
- Check Progress for best weight, estimated 1RM and volume per exercise, and Muscle Balance on Home for your weekly sets per muscle group.
The 7-day free trial includes the whole workout tracker: workout logging, progress charts, body metrics, the full library of 800+ exercises, every split and your own custom splits. Buying IronBuddy for €6.99 keeps everything unlocked after the trial, and adds export and import of your data, a local copy of your data kept on your phone, share cards, a customizable Home and accent colors. In both the trial and the full version, Android's own backup protects your data if Google backup is turned on. See training splits in IronBuddy for screenshots of the presets, filters and week editor.
Upper Lower questions
Upper Lower or Push Pull Legs?
Both train each muscle twice a week when run as written. Upper Lower does it in four days, so it suits a four-day week; a twice-a-week PPL needs six. If you can only train three or four times a week, Upper Lower is the easier one to keep up.
Is an Upper Lower split good for beginners?
Yes. Each day has a clear job, the exercises are mostly machines and dumbbells, and nothing is trained on consecutive days. IronBuddy lists its Upper / Lower preset as Beginner for that reason. A three-day full body plan is the other common starting point.
What if I miss a day?
Do the day you missed next, and let the rest of the week shift. The order (Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B) matters more than the weekday, because A and B use different exercises for the same muscles.
A note on safety
This guide is general training information, not medical advice. Choose loads and a weekly layout that suit your experience and recovery, and speak to a qualified professional if you have an injury or a health condition.
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