The ULPPL Split: A 5-Day Upper, Lower, Push, Pull, Legs Routine Explained
If you can train five days a week and you keep bouncing between the high-frequency feel of upper/lower and the muscle-focused isolation of push/pull/legs, the ULPPL split is the routine that lets you stop choosing. ULPPL stands for Upper, Lower, Push, Pull, Legs. It stitches the two most popular intermediate templates together into one balanced week, giving most muscle groups two training touches across five sessions without the recovery cost of a true six-day program.
This guide breaks down exactly how the ULPPL split is structured, which exercises belong on each day, how it stacks up against its mirror image (the PPLUL split), and how to drive progressive overload week to week so the routine actually produces growth instead of just filling your calendar.
What the ULPPL Split Actually Is
ULPPL is a five-day weekly template that runs in this order:
Upper - chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps
Lower - quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves
Push - chest, shoulders, triceps
Pull - back, biceps, rear delts
Legs - quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves
The genius of the layout is the frequency math. Your chest, shoulders, and triceps get hit on the Upper day and again on the Push day. Your back and biceps get the Upper day and the Pull day. Your legs train on both the Lower day and the dedicated Legs day. That means every major muscle group is trained roughly twice per week, which the research consistently flags as a sweet spot for hypertrophy.
A meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found that training each muscle group twice per week produced superior hypertrophy compared with once-weekly training when volume was equated (PMID: 27102172). ULPPL bakes that twice-weekly frequency in by design, without forcing you into a daily grind.
The "upper/lower front, push/pull/legs back" arrangement is deliberate. You start the week with the two highest-systemic-demand sessions (full upper body, full lower body) while you are freshest, then transition into the more targeted PPL block where each day covers less total muscle and is easier to recover from as fatigue accumulates.
ULPPL vs PPLUL: Does the Order Matter?
The closest cousin to ULPPL is the PPLUL split, which simply reverses the blocks: Push, Pull, Legs, Upper, Lower. Both deliver the same twice-per-week frequency for most muscles, so the weekly volume is essentially identical. The difference is sequencing and where your rest days land.
ULPPL front-loads the compound-heavy upper and lower days, which suits lifters who like to attack their biggest, most demanding work early in the week. PPLUL front-loads the PPL block, which can feel less daunting on a Monday and leaves the high-fatigue upper/lower sessions for later. Neither is meaningfully superior for growth. Jeff Nippard popularized ranking both layouts side by side, and the takeaway from that comparison, covered in our breakdown of the Jeff Nippard split options, is that the better split is the one whose rest-day placement matches your real-life schedule and recovery.
A practical tip: put your two rest days where your body needs them, not where a template tells you to. Many lifters run ULPPL as Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat with Wednesday and Sunday off, which breaks the week into two manageable blocks separated by recovery.
How to Structure Each Training Day
Here is a clean, balanced ULPPL template built around compound movements first and isolation work second.
Upper Day
Barbell bench press: 3-4 sets
Barbell or pendulum row: 3-4 sets
Overhead press: 3 sets
Lat pulldown or pull-up: 3 sets
Incline dumbbell press: 2-3 sets
Biceps curl: 2-3 sets
Triceps pushdown: 2-3 sets
Lower Day
Back squat: 3-4 sets
Romanian deadlift: 3 sets
Leg press or hack squat: 3 sets
Leg curl: 3 sets
Standing calf raise: 3-4 sets
Push Day
Incline barbell or dumbbell press: 3-4 sets
Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3 sets
Cable or machine chest fly: 3 sets
Lateral raise: 3-4 sets
Overhead triceps extension: 3 sets
Pull Day
Deadlift or rack pull: 3 sets
Chest-supported row: 3-4 sets
Lat pulldown: 3 sets
Face pull or rear-delt fly: 3 sets
Hammer curl: 3 sets
Incline dumbbell curl: 2-3 sets
Legs Day
Front squat or hack squat: 3-4 sets
Hip thrust: 3 sets
Walking lunge or split squat: 3 sets
Seated leg curl: 3 sets
Seated calf raise: 3-4 sets
This puts most major muscles in the 10-20 weekly-set range that research associates with strong hypertrophy responses, with diminishing returns above that band (PMID: 30558493). If you are newer to lifting, start at the lower end and add sets only as you confirm you are recovering well between sessions. For a deeper look at how push and pull days are constructed, our complete PPL split guide covers exercise selection in detail.
Managing Volume and Avoiding Overlap
The most common ULPPL mistake is letting the Upper day and the Push/Pull days secretly double up so a muscle ends up with far more volume than you planned. Because chest is hit on both Upper and Push, and back is hit on both Upper and Pull, you have to count sets across the whole week rather than per session.
A simple rule: treat the Upper day as your "compound anchor" with heavier, lower-rep work on the big lifts, then use the Push and Pull days for slightly higher-rep, more isolation-flavored volume. This keeps total weekly sets in check while still letting you train heavy and pump-focused within the same week.
This connects to a debate that surfaced again on X recently. Brad Schoenfeld shared a study reinforcing that the training stimulus itself, not just protein intake, is the dominant driver of muscle development, and that accumulating effective, recoverable volume over time is what moves the needle. ULPPL works precisely because it lets you stack that volume across two weekly exposures per muscle while keeping each individual session recoverable. Stronger by Science recently explored how tightly strength and hypertrophy gains track together, another reminder that progressing your loads on the big lifts and growing muscle are not separate projects.
Who Should Run ULPPL (and Who Should Not)
ULPPL is an intermediate-to-advanced template. It assumes you can already perform the main barbell lifts with solid technique, you can commit to five sessions most weeks, and you recover well enough to train back-to-back days.
It is a strong fit if:
You have at least six months to a year of consistent lifting behind you
You want twice-weekly frequency without the daily commitment of a six-day split
You enjoy a mix of full-body-style days and muscle-focused days
It is probably the wrong call if:
You are a true beginner who would progress faster on a full-body or simple linear program
You can only reliably train three or four days a week
Your recovery is compromised by poor sleep or very high life stress, in which case five sessions will dig a hole faster than you can climb out
If five days is a stretch some weeks, do not force it. Missing the occasional Legs day on a five-day plan is far better than burning out and quitting the routine entirely.
Driving Progressive Overload Across the Week
A split is just a container. What grows muscle is progressive overload, the steady increase in training demand over weeks and months. The cleanest way to apply it on ULPPL is double progression: pick a rep range (say 6-10 for a compound), work to the top of the range across your sets, then add weight and drop back to the bottom of the range next time.
Because so many muscles are trained twice per week on ULPPL, you get two chances every seven days to beat a previous performance. The key is having last session's numbers in front of you. If you are guessing what you lifted last time, you are not progressing, you are improvising. Track the weight, reps, and sets for every working set so each session has a clear target to beat.
How to Apply This in Setgraph
ULPPL lives or dies on two things: knowing what you did last time, and keeping your five days organized so you never lose the thread mid-week. Setgraph handles both.
Build the five days once with the Workout Planner. Create five Workouts named Upper, Lower, Push, Pull, and Legs, then add the exercises to each. In Setgraph, an Exercise can belong to multiple Workouts while sharing one set history, which matters on ULPPL because your bench press appears on both Upper and Push days. Whichever day you open it from, you see the same full history, so you always know your last bench numbers regardless of which session you are in. Set a fixed manual order inside each Workout if exercise sequence matters to you. See the Workout Planner feature page for how to set this up.
Use last-set pre-fill to drive double progression. When you open an exercise to record a set, Setgraph pre-fills your most recent set for that movement. Glance at it, decide whether to add a rep or add weight, and log. That single screen is your progressive-overload engine: last time 4x8 at 80 lb means today you chase 4x9 or bump to 85 lb. Because ULPPL trains most muscles twice weekly, you will use this pre-fill to beat a recent number almost every session.
Watch weekly volume with Analytics. Since chest, back, and legs each get two days, use the per-training-day summaries in Setgraph's workout tracker to confirm your real weekly set counts land in the productive range rather than quietly creeping too high. The per-exercise charts show whether your weight and volume are actually trending up over your scrollable time range, which is the only proof that your split is working.
Start there, keep beating last week's numbers, and let the twice-weekly frequency do the rest.
FAQ
Q: Is ULPPL better than PPL?
For most intermediates, yes, if you can train five days. A standard three-day PPL only hits each muscle once per week unless you run it six days. ULPPL gives you twice-weekly frequency in five sessions, which aligns better with the hypertrophy evidence showing two sessions per muscle outperforms one when volume is equated (PMID: 27102172). If you can only train three days, stick with PPL.
Q: ULPPL vs PPLUL - which should I pick?
They produce nearly identical weekly volume and frequency, so pick based on rest-day placement and personal preference. ULPPL front-loads the demanding upper and lower days; PPLUL front-loads the PPL block. Try one for 8-12 weeks, track your progress, and switch only if your schedule or recovery suggests the other ordering fits better.
Q: How many sets per muscle should I do on a ULPPL split?
Aim for roughly 10-20 hard sets per major muscle group per week, counting across both days that hit it. Beginners and lifters with limited recovery should start near 10; more advanced lifters can push higher, though returns diminish at the top of that range (PMID: 30558493).
Q: Can beginners run ULPPL?
It is generally better suited to intermediates. Beginners usually progress faster and recover more easily on a full-body or simple linear-progression program, then graduate to a five-day split like ULPPL once the basic lifts are dialed in and four-plus weekly sessions are sustainable.
Q: What if I miss a day on ULPPL?
Just continue the rotation from where you left off rather than trying to cram two days into one. Consistency over months matters far more than any single perfect week. Missing the occasional session will not erase your progress as long as you keep showing up and keep beating your logged numbers over time.
Ready to run ULPPL without losing track of your numbers? Build your five days, log every set, and watch your volume and strength trend in one place with Setgraph.
