A four-day upper-lower plan with stepped conditioning, engineered for recomposition at maintenance-to-small-deficit calories.
The Weekly Split
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Monday | Upper strength |
| Tuesday | Lower strength + conditioning |
| Thursday | Upper volume + core |
| Friday | Lower volume + intervals |
The Program
Recomposition works best for two groups: lifters returning after a break, and intermediate trainees holding extra body fat. Both have unused potential that lets muscle rise while fat falls — provided calories stay near maintenance and training stays genuinely hard.
The split is upper-lower twice weekly. Strength days run compounds at 5-to-8 reps with long rests; volume days run 10-to-15 reps with sixty-second rests and a conditioning finisher. This pairing protects strength on a deficit while accumulating enough hard sets for new growth.
Upper strength: bench press, weighted pull-ups, standing press, barbell rows, face pulls. Lower strength: trap bar deadlifts, front squats, hip thrusts, leg curls, calves. Upper volume: incline dumbbells, cable rows, laterals, dips, curls, hanging raises. Lower volume: hack squats, Bulgarian split squats, leg extensions, Romanian deadlifts, sled or rower intervals.
Nutrition rules: calories at maintenance minus 200 maximum, protein 2 grams per kilogram, steps at 8,000 daily. The plan does the rest through intensity — every set logged, every rep quality-checked.
Week 6 halves the volume as a deload and re-test week. Expect the scale to barely move while the mirror changes — waist tighter, shoulders rounder, old weights feeling light. Photograph the first day; recomposition progress is invisible day-to-day and obvious in pairs.
Program published as original editorial content. Pair it with the training guides for technique detail.
