A 4-day upper/lower plan, exercise by exercise

1.The week in two lines

Four sessions: Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B. Usually Monday and Tuesday, a rest day in the middle, Thursday and Friday. Every muscle group is trained twice a week, with two or three days between stimuli.

The two upper sessions are not identical, and neither are the two lower ones. What changes between A and B is the exercise that opens and the angle of each pattern, not the plan. The table below is the week exactly as it sits in the app, with all the numbers.

2.Upper A: the heavy one first

It opens with barbell bench press, 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps and 150 seconds of rest. The first exercise of a session is where load pays off most, because it is done without accumulated fatigue — which is why it carries the lowest rep range of the day.

Barbell bent-over row comes next, also 4 sets, of 8 to 10. Pulling and pushing appear on the same day with the same volume: that is what keeps the shoulder balanced over months. Then dumbbell overhead press (3×8-10) and machine pulldown (3×10-12) add volume to the same muscles with less demand on stability, with the session already half done.

Arms close the session as a superset: dumbbell curl and rope pushdown, 3 sets of 10 to 12 each, 60 seconds. They come last because they already took indirect work from the press and the row, and as a superset because two opposing muscles do not compete for the same recovery within a session.

3.Lower A: squat and posterior chain

Barbell squat, 4 sets of 6 to 8, 180 seconds of rest — the longest rest of the week, because it is the exercise that costs the whole body the most. Then Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 8 to 10: the squat loads mostly the front of the thigh, the Romanian takes care of the back.

Leg press follows to add leg volume without loading the spine again, and the seated leg curl isolates the hamstrings the Romanian already worked. Calves last, 4 sets of 12 to 15: a muscle that tolerates high reps and takes nothing away from the big lifts if it waits until the end.

4.Upper B: change the angle, not the plan

The second upper session swaps the order: barbell overhead press now opens, with 4 sets of 6 to 8. The shoulder is the muscle taking the heavy work this time, and the chest is served by dumbbell bench press instead, 3 sets of 8 to 10 at RIR 2.

The pulldown changes grip — neutral pulldown, 4 sets of 8 to 10 — because repeating exactly the same pattern twice a week returns less than the same volume from two angles. Lateral raises (3×12-15) add the side delt that pressing alone does not cover, and arms close as a superset again.

5.Lower B: hips first

Barbell hip thrust opens, 4 sets of 8 to 10. Where Lower A starts from a squat pattern, Lower B starts from a hip-extension pattern: the same two-angles logic, applied to legs.

Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat, 3 sets of 10 to 12 per leg, adds unilateral work — the weaker side stops hiding behind the stronger one. Horizontal leg press, leg extension and leg curl add the remaining volume, and the session closes with machine crunches, 4 sets of 12 to 15.

6.Why the reps come down through the session

The whole week follows one rule: 6 to 8 reps on the compound lifts that open, 8 to 12 in the middle, 12 to 15 on the isolation work at the end. Heavy load asks for technique and focus, and both are better early. High reps at the end add stimulus with little risk and little fatigue carried into the next day.

Rest follows the same shape: 150 to 180 seconds on the heavy compounds, 90 to 120 in the middle, 60 on isolation and supersets. Cutting rest on a heavy squat does not save time, it only makes the following sets worse.

7.What the week delivers to each muscle

None of this counts if, by the end of the week, some muscle lands far below or far above what was planned. The table below adds up the sets per muscle group, counting each set for the primary muscle and the secondary one — the same rule the app panel and the calculator use.

Open this week in the calculator and try it: drop an exercise, change the sets on another, and watch the muscle column move before the plan ever reaches the gym.

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