A four-day upper/lower split with clear progression

An upper/lower split puts upper-body training on two days and lower-body training on two other days. Save four workouts, repeat the same weekly order, and add reps before increasing the weight. The plan below gives you separate A and B sessions so you can train the same regions without repeating an identical workout every time.

Choose it if you can reliably train four days and want more room for accessories than a short full-body session gives you. You'll need a commercial gym or a home gym with the listed equipment. If three sessions already fit your life and your training is progressing, there's no requirement to add a fourth.

Schedule four workouts with a break in the middle

For this plan, use Monday upper, Tuesday lower, Thursday upper, and Friday lower. That leaves Wednesday and the weekend free. Move the days if needed, keeping the order of the workouts.

Both upper sessions include pressing and pulling. Both lower sessions include knee-focused and hamstring work, with the heavier deadlift placed in Lower B. The schedule is there to organize the work, not to make a missed Tuesday ruin the week.

Upper A starts with bench press

Do the exercises in this order, with the optional curl at the end. The listed sets are working sets. Warm up separately, using progressively heavier practice sets before your first heavy lifts.

Start with weights you can control throughout the range. A bench press set that changes into a different movement to finish its last rep hasn't earned a weight increase.

Lower A starts with squat

Keep the squat as the main lift and use the other movements to finish the session. If time is tight, leave out the optional crunches before cutting rest from the squat.

Upper B uses a different press and row

Use incline dumbbell press and barbell row as the main pair in Upper B. Their starting weights and progression are separate from the bench press and cable row in Upper A.

Don't turn the last two exercises into more pressing. Keep their movements controlled and record them just as you record the main lifts.

Lower B puts deadlift before leg press

Do the deadlift first while you're fresh, then use the leg press and leg curl for the remaining lower-body work. Two deadlift sets are the starting prescription here; more sets aren't an automatic upgrade.

Use the rest times as starting points. Take longer if you need it to repeat the movement with the same technique. The plan's set counts are an initial workload, not a promise of maximum muscle growth for every lifter.

Save all four routines in RepCount

Create Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, and Lower B as separate routines. RepCount's free version has no limit on saved routines, so you can keep every workout in this split and retain your other routines too.

Get RepCount for iPhone · Get RepCount for Android

Enter the workouts manually. These links open the store listings; they don't import the four routines or create a weekly schedule.

In each routine, add the exercises in table order and enter the working-set count. Put the rep range and rest time in the exercise notes. A bench press note can say: 3 sets of 6-8. Rest 2-3 minutes. Increase weight after 8, 8, 8 with consistent technique.

Set routine targets to use the previous session of that routine when you want A and B to keep separate reference values. The leg curl appears in both lower workouts with different set counts; compare Lower A with Lower A, rather than expecting Lower B's two sets to match three.

You choose the next routine using the schedule. Record the weight and reps you actually complete, then make the next decision from those values. Detailed exercise-history analysis is a separate Premium feature; it isn't required to save and follow these routines.

Increase the weight after completing the rep range

Keep the weight unchanged until every working set reaches the top of the range. Then use the smallest available increase. If the new load takes you below the bottom of the range, return to the previous load or use a smaller increase if one is available.

For a three-set incline dumbbell press at 8-12 reps, this example shows the rule:

These are example numbers, not starting targets or a timetable. If you use different weights or need more sessions, the same rule still applies. For a two-set exercise, both sets need to reach the top of the range.

Start with a load that leaves a couple of clean reps available. The 2026 ACSM review by Currier and colleagues supports progressive resistance training; complete muscular failure wasn't consistently necessary for better outcomes.

Keep the sequence moving after a missed workout

Continue with the missed routine at your next session, then proceed through the four-workout order. If you miss Lower A on Tuesday, do Lower A next, followed by Upper B and Lower B. The sequence may run into the following week.

Avoid solving a missed session by stacking two full workouts together. If four days repeatedly become two or three, choose a three-day full-body plan instead of continually stretching a four-day schedule.

You can deliberately run upper/lower on three days. Keep A and B moving across weeks, accepting that the full sequence takes longer. That is a different schedule from the four-day version, rather than four days' training somehow fitted into three.

Replace equipment without losing the progression rule

Choose a replacement you can repeat reliably, then establish its own starting weight. These substitutions keep the routine manageable, but they don't make different movements identical.

Replacing deadlift with leg curls removes the hinge from this plan. It is an option for following a lower session without deadlifting, not a claim that leg curls train everything a deadlift does.

Review the workload before adding more days

Repeat the weights after an isolated disappointing session. If a lift keeps moving backward, check rest, technique and your recent sessions before adding exercises. Reduce that lift to a weight you can complete and rebuild if needed.

If several lifts are struggling and you feel worn down, take an easier session. The deload guide explains how to think about that decision. Adding a fifth day isn't the default response to a stalled bench press.

Upper/lower is an organizing choice. Ramos-Campo and colleagues' 2024 review found similar full-body and split outcomes when weekly volume was matched. Choose this split because four sessions fit your schedule and make the work easier to organize.

Create Upper A first, log the first workout, and keep the next routine ready. Download RepCount for iPhone or Android to save all four routines for free.