As a software engineer myself, I love the 4 day upper lower split! great way to hit every muscle group optimally and efficiently. I would consider. For the upper days, I would consider doing a check exercise, followed by a back exercise. This gives the chest and back more time to recover for the next exercise to pump out higher quality reps.
Amazing. As a cs student at gatech I’m always strapped for time but understand the importance of fitness. I like your calm and analytical way of explaining things. Subscribed
yea its definitely tough in college being a cs student trying to balance fitness and hunting SWE jobs and things like that, glad you enjoyed the video and all the best for your fitness journey!
A tip for the girls watching: Do chest supported rows the opposite way. Instead of lying down on the bench, stand on the other side of the bench and lean down until your clavicles touch the bench at whatever incline you chose. Much more comfortable.
great video Michael! would love to see how you manage to maintain a calorie deficit and what processes you use to achieve it - step counts, cardio sched, progressively decreasing calories, etc. all the best for your upcoming videos!
cool! i also started doing an upper lower split this year as it fits my schedule well! also, you might want to try staggering your push&pull movements on an upper body day to allow more rest for your muscles to perform better during the set. eg incline press -> rows -> machine press -> pull ups. hope it helps!
Excellent video! Can you explain more on how to strucute the upper lower split for 3 days? I currently have been doing 4x a week and feel burnt out. Optimal would be 3x!
thank you! i've described in the video on how to structure the upper lower into 3 days based on the workout that i have mentioned. If you downloaded my free workout program (link in description), there are 4 key workouts: 1. Upper (Chest focus) 2. Lower (Quad focus) 3. Upper (Back focus) 4. Lower (Hamstring focus) Let's say you want to workout: Mon Wed Fri. Week 1 ------------- Mon: 1 Wed: 2 Fri: 3 Week 2 ------------- Mon: 4 Wed: 1 Fri: 2 Week 3 ------------- Mon: 3 Wed: 4 Fri: 1 Week 4 ------------- Mon: 2 Wed: 3 Fri: 4 So it will be in a rolling fashion, and each muscle group will be hit about every 4-5 days (so still better than a 1x a week frequency)
@ ideally upper lower would be best on the 4 day split, so running it on 3 day would have slightly less volume. If you enjoy upper lower (enjoyment is really important in being consistent, arguably the most important factor), you can do that. So assuming we like this upper lower style, if you’re ok with mixing a full body day, for a more “optimal” 3 day split you could also do a mix of the upper, lower + full body: Mon: Upper Wed: Lower Fri: Full body where you can mix up exercises in the last 2 workouts (upper (back focus) & lower (hamstring focus)) into the full body day. For the order of exercises and exercise selection, an example can be: 1. Stiff leg deadlifts 2. Row 3. Leg extension 4. Bench Press 5. Tricep variant 6. Bicep variant 7. Shoulder (lateral raise) 8. Core This allows for a slightly better 2x a week frequency. There’s many other ways to go about it. As you noticed, when you lower the frequency of your workout, each workout is potentially longer in order to cover all the areas, so exercise selection becomes more important because you can only have so much energy 😂
@@mikeloway so would a upper lower full body split be better than a upper lower 9 day split? I don’t mind increasing the duration of sets as I already do a 5-6 workout session per upper lower split rn
@@1hitgamer theoretically it will be the upper lower full body since you'll be hitting each muscle group strictly 2x a week, you can give it a try to see if you enjoy it and are able to recover better from it!
thank you! i'm focusing more on upper chest so my main mover for chest is Incline DB press doing it on Monday (first day of the week). I also run this on Mon Tue Thu Sat, so energy wise the bigger work are done nearer to the end of the week since there's a rest day between Thu and Sat, and I prefer doing my bigger compounds like stiff leg deadlifts on the weekend where I wake up slightly later and have more energy compared to the early morning weekdays.
i actually really like dips, especially weighted dips but main issue is that I have to bring my weight belt to the gym (sadly my gym doesn't provide one) and then to the office which kinda takes up alot of space 😂
If you’re doing a 4 split just do chest, back, arms/shoulders, and legs. You’ll be out the gym in 45-60min. I’ve been doing it for a month and I’ve seen great results. My chest is getting fuller. I was doing the Arnold split x PPL. I feel more rested with this new 4 day split. Also, it helps you stay consistent knowing you’re just hitting one muscle group.
yes! for any split its essential to apply progressive overload, there are numerous ways: 1. Increasing the weight you are doing compared to last time 2. Increasing the reps you are doing for the same given weight 3. Shorter rest time while performing the same weight at the same rep I strongly recommend sticking to options 1 and 2. For a given exercise like bench press, if you're doing 60kg/132lbs for 9 reps for a set (which is near the upper end of a 4-9 rep range), in the next session, try doing 62.5kg/137lbs and see how many reps you get. Work with 62.5kg until you go near the upper end of the rep range (e.g 9 reps), then now do 65kg/143lbs, and keep doing this indefinitely.
I would rather go with a split PPL variation . Let’s say, upper Pull + leg anterior chain day one, Push + leg posterior chain day 2 and then repeat for a 4 day frequency.
@@jacobl5488 All the science would disagree with you. This is honestly a relatively lowish to maybe medium volume per muscle group program. Sure you can do super minimalist workouts but your progress will be dramatically slower.
@@jacobl5488Yep agree. All depends on Goals. Functional Fitness isn't that time costly. Cardio and Weights used just to stimulate muscle growth is all fine. But maximum guys go in like they are planning to go on stage, while the maximum are just their for aesthetics to look good and wrk like competitors 😂 Comes from my experience as trainr last 12 years. 😂 Advice is if your not a student or a guy who's finances are provided or managed by being in Fitness industry then working like Pro's is plain stupid. Rather it should be inconjunction with your professional goals.
As a software engineer myself, I love the 4 day upper lower split! great way to hit every muscle group optimally and efficiently. I would consider. For the upper days, I would consider doing a check exercise, followed by a back exercise. This gives the chest and back more time to recover for the next exercise to pump out higher quality reps.
@@WaleedAlvi oh yea for sure that works very well for strength-focused goals
Amazing. As a cs student at gatech I’m always strapped for time but understand the importance of fitness. I like your calm and analytical way of explaining things. Subscribed
yea its definitely tough in college being a cs student trying to balance fitness and hunting SWE jobs and things like that, glad you enjoyed the video and all the best for your fitness journey!
Bro went from software engineer to hardware engineer in a month 🤣
gotta engineer my body too 😂
A tip for the girls watching: Do chest supported rows the opposite way. Instead of lying down on the bench, stand on the other side of the bench and lean down until your clavicles touch the bench at whatever incline you chose. Much more comfortable.
Like a Helms row?
@@jon.aexactly a helms row. Not the most popular term to use with beginners tho, I think Unicorn’s description was effective
Can do a cable row too. Not a girl but chest supported rows feel weird to me.
sorry gurlies 😭 that works great too!
Thanks for the video. Stay strong, king 💪 🤴. Can't wait for u to reach 1000 subs
@@dylangamingbot thanks man let’s get it!!
great video Michael!
would love to see how you manage to maintain a calorie deficit and what processes you use to achieve it - step counts, cardio sched, progressively decreasing calories, etc.
all the best for your upcoming videos!
oh yea definitely will make that in the coming videos
That was a very helpful video!!
@@xMister.Misterx you’re very welcome!
Those are some really good ideas. You also did a great work creating the video. Keep it on! 😁
thank you glad you liked it!
Thank you so much for making this video Michael, this video was very helpful!
glad you found it useful!
man love your energy! keep going subbed!
thank you so much
2:23
amazing video, can't believe you're such a small channel. i subbed
thank you really appreciate the support
For me, 2x full body a week is where its at. Recovery is amazing, workouts are long and brutal but its very effective and I'm growing like a weed
good that its working for you!
cool! i also started doing an upper lower split this year as it fits my schedule well! also, you might want to try staggering your push&pull movements on an upper body day to allow more rest for your muscles to perform better during the set. eg incline press -> rows -> machine press -> pull ups. hope it helps!
oh yea for sure I used to do that too definitely great, just trying something new for now haha
Excellent video! Can you explain more on how to strucute the upper lower split for 3 days? I currently have been doing 4x a week and feel burnt out. Optimal would be 3x!
thank you! i've described in the video on how to structure the upper lower into 3 days based on the workout that i have mentioned. If you downloaded my free workout program (link in description), there are 4 key workouts:
1. Upper (Chest focus)
2. Lower (Quad focus)
3. Upper (Back focus)
4. Lower (Hamstring focus)
Let's say you want to workout: Mon Wed Fri.
Week 1
-------------
Mon: 1
Wed: 2
Fri: 3
Week 2
-------------
Mon: 4
Wed: 1
Fri: 2
Week 3
-------------
Mon: 3
Wed: 4
Fri: 1
Week 4
-------------
Mon: 2
Wed: 3
Fri: 4
So it will be in a rolling fashion, and each muscle group will be hit about every 4-5 days (so still better than a 1x a week frequency)
@ ah I see so i shouldn’t be so tied up on weekly volume!
@ ideally upper lower would be best on the 4 day split, so running it on 3 day would have slightly less volume. If you enjoy upper lower (enjoyment is really important in being consistent, arguably the most important factor), you can do that. So assuming we like this upper lower style, if you’re ok with mixing a full body day, for a more “optimal” 3 day split you could also do a mix of the upper, lower + full body:
Mon: Upper
Wed: Lower
Fri: Full body
where you can mix up exercises in the last 2 workouts (upper (back focus) & lower (hamstring focus)) into the full body day. For the order of exercises and exercise selection, an example can be:
1. Stiff leg deadlifts
2. Row
3. Leg extension
4. Bench Press
5. Tricep variant
6. Bicep variant
7. Shoulder (lateral raise)
8. Core
This allows for a slightly better 2x a week frequency.
There’s many other ways to go about it. As you noticed, when you lower the frequency of your workout, each workout is potentially longer in order to cover all the areas, so exercise selection becomes more important because you can only have so much energy 😂
@@mikeloway so would a upper lower full body split be better than a upper lower 9 day split? I don’t mind increasing the duration of sets as I already do a 5-6 workout session per upper lower split rn
@@1hitgamer theoretically it will be the upper lower full body since you'll be hitting each muscle group strictly 2x a week, you can give it a try to see if you enjoy it and are able to recover better from it!
Great routine. Why do you leave the big compounds like bb bench til day 3?
thank you! i'm focusing more on upper chest so my main mover for chest is Incline DB press doing it on Monday (first day of the week). I also run this on Mon Tue Thu Sat, so energy wise the bigger work are done nearer to the end of the week since there's a rest day between Thu and Sat, and I prefer doing my bigger compounds like stiff leg deadlifts on the weekend where I wake up slightly later and have more energy compared to the early morning weekdays.
@mikeloway sounds a good plan. Looking forward to seeing your progression. Subbed
can u do some videos on form for basic/common exercises?
tyler path makes a lot of videos on form for a huge number of exercises, you can check him out!
How do i get the spreadsheet. i download it and it does nothing
hey there you can try downloading again at: michaellowfit.com/busy-4-day-upperlower-split
Whats your video recorder or camera?
hey there i'm using a Sony A7CII with a 20-70mm F4 lens
No love for dips ?
F the dips
@@AK47_. WHy ?
i actually really like dips, especially weighted dips but main issue is that I have to bring my weight belt to the gym (sadly my gym doesn't provide one) and then to the office which kinda takes up alot of space 😂
If you’re doing a 4 split just do chest, back, arms/shoulders, and legs. You’ll be out the gym in 45-60min. I’ve been doing it for a month and I’ve seen great results. My chest is getting fuller. I was doing the Arnold split x PPL. I feel more rested with this new 4 day split. Also, it helps you stay consistent knowing you’re just hitting one muscle group.
doesnt that just become kinda of a bro split?
do you think that hitting the same muscle group twice a week would give you more gains over doing single muscle and more volume
@@icodelife I am hitting them twice a week. I hit them on the 5th day if I don’t rest or 6th if I do.
works great too man most importantly is enjoying the workout split you do
massive king
@@thederrickliew thank you my man
So do I use progressive overload for this split? like increasing the weight once you can reach the max number of reps for each set
You always use progressive overload no matter what the split is.
yes! for any split its essential to apply progressive overload, there are numerous ways:
1. Increasing the weight you are doing compared to last time
2. Increasing the reps you are doing for the same given weight
3. Shorter rest time while performing the same weight at the same rep
I strongly recommend sticking to options 1 and 2. For a given exercise like bench press, if you're doing 60kg/132lbs for 9 reps for a set (which is near the upper end of a 4-9 rep range), in the next session, try doing 62.5kg/137lbs and see how many reps you get. Work with 62.5kg until you go near the upper end of the rep range (e.g 9 reps), then now do 65kg/143lbs, and keep doing this indefinitely.
as a data science student thanks
helped me a lot❤
glad it helped!
I would rather go with a split PPL variation . Let’s say, upper Pull + leg anterior chain day one, Push + leg posterior chain day 2 and then repeat for a 4 day frequency.
Same shit
works too find what you enjoy!
bro plz can u give me a weekly workout schedule like monday - chest and triceps ect. plz bro
i am an teenager
Same
hey there you can check the description for the workout program that I shared in this video!
link is in the description for the workout program I described here
@@mikeloway okay brother
4 hours is alot, i get results with 1.5 hours of working out, and i do mainly only three exercises.
4 hours a week is barely anything.
@@MayonnaiseOreo im lazy, i dont like to spend so much time on it, you dont really need to do that many exercises
@@jacobl5488 All the science would disagree with you. This is honestly a relatively lowish to maybe medium volume per muscle group program. Sure you can do super minimalist workouts but your progress will be dramatically slower.
@@jacobl5488Yep agree.
All depends on Goals.
Functional Fitness isn't that time costly.
Cardio and Weights used just to stimulate muscle growth is all fine.
But maximum guys go in like they are planning to go on stage, while the maximum are just their for aesthetics to look good and wrk like competitors 😂
Comes from my experience as trainr last 12 years. 😂
Advice is if your not a student or a guy who's finances are provided or managed by being in Fitness industry then working like Pro's is plain stupid.
Rather it should be inconjunction with your professional goals.