Strength & physique
Upper / lower split, four days
phase.fitness writes upper/lower as the four-day split the frequency document recommends for intermediates: every muscle twice a week, a strength day and a hypertrophy day for each half, and two blocks — volume, then intensity — with a deload between them.
Updated
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Days per week
- 4
- Modalities
- Strength
- Equipment
- A rack, a barbell, a bench and dumbbells; machines optional
- Sessions go to
- Hevy, Liftosaur, Garmin
The short answer
An upper/lower program in phase.fitness is four days a week — upper, lower, upper, lower — with each muscle trained twice, the layout the frequency document lists for a 2× frequency. The official template, Upper / Lower 4× — 8 weeks, runs an accumulation block that builds weekly set volume toward the top of the adaptive range with a deload in week 4, then an intensification block with fewer sets and heavier loads where the strength sessions lead and the hypertrophy sessions hold volume. Loads are 65–85% for 6–12 reps on the hypertrophy days and 75–90% for 3–6 on the strength days, regulated by RPE.
Four days, two exposures, two jobs
The frequency document phase.fitness reads gives upper/lower four days a week as the balanced 2× frequency for intermediates: every muscle twice, a clear structure, manageable recovery. What makes it more than a schedule is giving the two exposures different jobs — a strength day at 75–90% for 3–6 reps and a hypertrophy day at 65–85% for 6–12 — so the week trains both qualities without either session becoming a marathon.
The blocks come from the block-periodization document: accumulation first, where weekly sets climb toward the adaptive range and the fourth week deloads; then intensification, where the sets fall and the loads rise, the strength sessions lead and the hypertrophy sessions hold volume rather than chasing it.
How many days a week is an upper lower split?
Four in a phase.fitness program: upper, lower, upper, lower, so every muscle is trained twice a week. That is the same 2× frequency a three-day full-body plan reaches; the split is about how many days you have and how much you want to fit in each one.
What loads should you use on upper lower days?
Two ranges, by the job of the day. phase.fitness writes the hypertrophy sessions at 65–85% for 6–12 reps and the strength sessions at 75–90% for 3–6, both regulated by RPE rather than by a fixed percentage of a maximum you may not have tested recently.
What phase.fitness builds
A program is a sequence of phases, each with a job. These are the phases phase.fitness writes for this case, with the bands the generator has to respect — transcribed from the document it reads, not invented for this page.
Accumulation
4
Intensification
4
| Phase | Weeks | Job | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accumulation | 4 | Build weekly set volume toward the top of the adaptive range | Large muscles toward 12–20 sets, medium 10–16; hypertrophy days 6–12 reps at 65–85%; week 4 is a deload |
| Intensification | 4 | Fewer sets, heavier loads | Strength days 3–6 reps at 75–90%, RPE 8–8.5; hypertrophy days hold volume; deload in the final week |
Prefer to start from something written by hand? The template library holds Upper / Lower 4× — 8 weeks, importable into a phase without spending AI credits.
A sample week
One week from the first phase, as it would sit on the calendar. Your own week follows the days you say you have — 4 here — and the equipment you list.
- SStrength
- Rest
| Day | Modality | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | S | Upper A — strength: bench 5 × 4, weighted pull-up 4 × 5, overhead press 3 × 6, row 3 × 8 |
| Tue | S | Lower A — strength: squat 5 × 4, RDL 3 × 6, split squat 3 × 8, calves |
| Wed | Rest | — |
| Thu | S | Upper B — hypertrophy: incline dumbbell 4 × 10, pulldown 4 × 10, dips 3 × 12, face pull, curls, triceps |
| Fri | S | Lower B — hypertrophy: leg press 4 × 12, leg curl 3 × 12, hip thrust 3 × 12, lunges, abs |
| Sat | Rest | — |
| Sun | Rest | — |
S = strength · C = cardio · K = calisthenics. The order is the point: hard days are kept apart and the long session gets the clean slot.
How it adapts when a phase ends
phase.fitness reads the sets from Hevy, Liftosaur or the watch and counts weekly volume per muscle against the landmarks; each week's targets are planned when the block is written, and the fourth week of each block is a deload by construction. When the accumulation block ends, the intensification percentages are written from the estimated 1RMs the logs produced, not from the numbers you typed at the start; a lift that stalled gets the variation the exercise document lists for it.
Where the sessions go
phase.fitness plans; you train in the app or on the watch you already use, and the completed session comes back. For this program:
The evidence
The documents this page is built from
These are the knowledge-base documents the phase.fitness generator reads for this case. The phases, bands and weekly numbers above are transcribed from them.
- Training Frequency Guidelines — updated 2025-01-18
- Block Periodization Guide — updated 2025-01-18
- Volume Landmarks for Hypertrophy — updated 2025-01-18
Frequently asked questions
Who is an upper/lower split for?
Intermediate lifters who can train four days a week. The frequency document phase.fitness reads recommends full-body work for beginners and lists upper/lower as the balanced 2× frequency once weekly progression is the realistic rate.
What are the two blocks?
In the phase.fitness template, accumulation for four weeks, building weekly sets toward the top of the adaptive range with a deload in week four; then intensification for four weeks with fewer sets and heavier loads, where the strength sessions lead and the hypertrophy sessions hold volume.
Is there a template?
Yes: Upper / Lower 4× — 8 weeks in the phase.fitness template library, importable into a program without AI credits. A generated program uses the same structure with your equipment and your logged loads.
The only app that plans strength, cardio and calisthenics together
On an upper/lower split the calisthenics day is the straight-arm and scapular work the pressing and pulling days skip — support holds, L-sits, lever steps — and it fits on a rest day without touching leg recovery.
Right now, phase.fitness is the only training app that writes strength, cardio and calisthenics into one periodized program — same calendar, same phases, same recovery budget.
You choose the mix. A calisthenics-only plan, a cardio-only block, strength plus cardio, or all three: the phases, the end-of-phase analysis and the sync work the same way with one modality or three.
Why calisthenics is in the plan
Bodyweight skill work is strength training in a different shape. Straight-arm work, levers and handstands build scapular control, tendon capacity and relative strength that barbell and machine work leave untouched, and they transfer because they are closed-chain, whole-body patterns. Treated as a modality rather than a warm-up, they get sets, holds and progressions like a squat does.
No exercise catalogue on the market contains a tuck front lever, so those sessions run in the phase.fitness built-in player; strength goes to Hevy, Liftosaur or a Garmin watch, cardio to Garmin and Intervals.icu. How the skill work is programmed.
Free to start, no card. The first phase is yours to keep whatever you decide.
