Upper/Lower 4-Day Split

A versatile 4-day split that alternates upper-body and lower-body sessions across the week. Each major movement pattern is hit twice weekly, balancing frequency and volume well for intermediate lifters.

Intermediate lifters who want balanced coverage across 4 days per week. Adaptable for strength or hypertrophy focus based on rep scheme.

Four sessions per week, alternating upper and lower. Each session is four movements: one or two main compound lifts, then the remaining two or three slots as accessories.

No author publishes a rate for a generic upper/lower template, so the numbers are VALDA's own: 5 kg a session on the deadlift and Romanian deadlift, 2 kg on dumbbell work, and 2.5 kg on everything else, machines and cables included. Those are our numbers rather than a published rule, and you can set your own rate per lift in programme management. Accessories progress on reps first — reach the top of the range on every set, then add weight. VALDA suggests the step after a completed session; you decide whether to take it.

Upper/lower 4-day is a long-standing strength-training community standard. The structure appears in coaching writing from Rippetoe, DeFranco, Jim Wendler, and dozens of others — no single author.