If you’re ready to take your training to the next level, it might be time to consider a more advanced approach. This six-day upper/lower strength split is designed for lifters who want more than the basics. Whether you’re focused on powerlifting, bodybuilding, or strongman training, this setup gives you the tools to build strength, size, and overall capability.
Compared to a three-day strength program, a six-day plan demands more from your body. There’s less recovery time between sessions, and you’ll need smart programming to avoid burning out. That’s why this isn’t just a copy-paste split of upper and lower days. It’s a well-thought-out sequence that prioritizes recovery, rotation of movement patterns, and progression in both strength and hypertrophy.
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Who Is This For?
This program isn’t meant for beginners. If you're new to lifting or need more recovery time between sessions, a three-day split focused on squat, bench, and deadlift might be a better fit. But if you're an intermediate to advanced lifter with solid technique and a few years of training under your belt, this split can help you drive measurable progress in both size and performance.
And what does “upper/lower split” really mean? This kind of workout plan focuses on upper body days and lower body days. The upper days tend to work chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. The lower days focus on quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
And that's just the start. The idea behind this is to help muscle groups recover while you maintain a high training frequency. Upper body workouts on one day allow your lower body muscles to recover before moving back and reversing your focus and doing lower body workouts while your upper body recovers.
How the 6-Day Split Works
Each day targets a primary compound lift and layers in accessory work to build out supporting musculature. There’s a balance of heavy and light training days to keep fatigue manageable while still pushing intensity. This approach is often referred to as undulating periodization. Some days are focused on maximal strength, while others emphasize speed, volume, or recovery.
Here’s how the week is structured:
Day 1: Squat Focus (Heavy Leg Day)
This day is all about building your legs through barbell squats and posterior chain work. You’ll target glutes, hamstrings, and overall leg strength with a mix of compound and accessory movements. Think heavy squats, Romanian deadlifts, and leg curls. If you start on Monday, you'll end your session on Saturday. Starting Day 1 on Sunday means your last day will be Friday.
Day 2: Bench Press Focus (Chest & Triceps)
You’ll press heavy and follow up with movements that support pressing power and size. This day includes chest accessories like dumbbell presses and triceps isolation to improve lockout strength.
Day 3: Pull Day (Back & Posterior Chain, No Deadlifts)
Deadlifting here would overlap too much with Day 1’s squat work, so instead, you’ll use rowing movements, pull-downs, and other pulling variations to target your back. This builds thickness and reinforces the muscles used in deadlifts without overloading the spine midweek.
Day 4: Speed Squat + Arm Focus
You’ll squat again, but this time it’s light and fast. The goal is power output and bar speed, which builds explosiveness and reinforces good technique. The rest of the session focuses on biceps, something often underemphasized in powerlifting programs.
Day 5: Overhead Press (Shoulders & Triceps)
This day prioritizes shoulder development and overhead pressing strength. While chest pressing is still important, overhead work trains different patterns and gives the chest a chance to recover. Expect pressing variations, lateral raises, and targeted triceps work.
Day 6: Deadlift Focus (Heavy Pulling)
You’ll finish the week with your main deadlift session. Because you’ve had time to recover since the initial leg day, you’ll be fresh and ready to go heavy. From there, the focus shifts to posterior chain accessories, hamstring curls, glute bridges, and more.
Day seven is your rest day. It's the only day off during the training week, and it's an especially good time to read up on technique. We also recommend our YouTube series if you're looking for some Sunday strategy.
Structuring Each Workout
Each training day follows a consistent format:
- Primary Lift: Squat, bench, deadlift, or overhead press performed heavy or light depending on the day.
- Variation Movement: A lift that targets a weak point. For example, a board press if you struggle with lockouts, or a paused squat to reinforce control.
- Accessories (3–5 movements): These are based on your individual needs. Want bigger arms? Prioritize biceps and triceps. Need more upper back for your deadlift? Add rows and reverse flys.
The goal is to build muscle and reinforce joint health while improving your primary lifts. This combination of volume, intensity, and movement variety helps drive growth without wearing you down.
Why It Works
Training six days a week means you’re asking a lot from your body. That’s why this program rotates between hard and light days. You might squat heavy on Day 1, then use Day 4 to reinforce movement quality and speed. This keeps your nervous system engaged without constantly maxing out. Just make sure you follow the standards for any safe workout. Harvard has a good guide on this.
It’s also worth remembering that strength and size go hand in hand. A strong muscle is usually a big one. By training compound lifts multiple times per week with variation and intent. you’re sending the right signals for both hypertrophy and performance.
Final Thoughts
This six-day upper/lower split is a solid choice for lifters who want to put in serious work. It’s not easy, and it’s not meant to be. But if you’re consistent and pay attention to recovery, it can be one of the most effective training structures you’ll ever use.
If you want the full breakdown, sets, reps, exercise choices, and how to adjust based on your goals, you can access the full PDF here. I put a lot of thought into this to make sure it’s not just intense, but also sustainable.
Stay strong, train smart, and if you’ve got questions about how to adapt this split to your goals, drop a comment or reach out.
