Power + Hypertrophy 5-Day

The five-day version of PHUL. Keeps the same Upper Power / Lower Power / Upper Hypertrophy / Lower Hypertrophy structure across the first four days, then adds a fifth session dedicated to arms — biceps, triceps, and forearm volume. Suited to lifters who want dedicated arm specialisation without sacrificing the four-day body-part frequency of the original.

Intermediate lifters who have run PHUL four-day and want more isolated arm volume, or naturally-thin-armed lifters who need direct arm work to make the rest of the programme pay off. Best when you can train five days without cutting into recovery on the big lifts.

Days 1-4 mirror the original PHUL: Upper Power (bench, press, row 3-5 reps), Lower Power (squat, deadlift 3-5 reps), Upper Hypertrophy (chest, back, shoulders 8-15 reps), Lower Hypertrophy (quads, hams, calves 8-15 reps). Day 5 is arms: biceps curls, triceps extensions, hammer curls, and forearm work — usually 10-15 reps across 3-4 exercises per muscle group.

Power-day main lifts use linear progression — +2.5 kg upper, +5 kg lower each session. Hypertrophy-day and arm-day work use rep-then-weight progression: hit the top of the prescribed rep range across all sets, then add weight. When a lift stalls for two weeks, deload that lift 10% and ramp back.

The five-day PHUL variant was published by Brandon Campbell as a follow-up to the original four-day PHUL, widely documented on Muscle and Strength. VALDA adapts the split and progression rules for use inside the app, but does not claim authorship of the method.