3 Day Upper Lower Workout Routine

So you’re about to change routines and you are coming off of a 5×5 or 3×5 type of strength workout… what next?

I wrote this 3 day upper lower workout routine in response to a reader request and I think this is a good fit for someone who is coming off of a lower rep scheme/strength only type of workout.

This routine focuses on a mid 8-10 rep range and is designed to help bring up lagging areas that can’t hold up to the pressure of the heavy sets. This is why a lot of people plateau and they don’t stop and address their weaknesses.

This routine is meant to be run for at least 12 weeks.

Goal Of This Routine

The goal of this 3 day upper lower workout routine is to build up weaknesses by using a moderate rep range of 8-10 on exercises. The exercises chosen will help increase strength, build up weaker muscles, and help you dial in on your form.

This routine is also great for anyone trying to build some quality muscle. I’ve had a lot of success building muscle and strength in the 8-10 rep range because it forces you to use heavier weights than you are used to when doing a pump type of workout.. but also get the pumps of the higher rep range.

That’s right… it’s all a mental challenge here.

Diet and Nutrition Tips

I would recommend going on a slow bulk for this routine to get the most out of it. It is easier to cut some fat afterwards than trying to make strength gains on a calorie deficit.

If you keep your weight consistent and need some tips to add calories into your diet, here are some of the best and healthiest ways to do so:

Butter
Cream cheese
Sour cream
Whole milk
Heavy cream
Cheese on everything
Protein shakes
Peanut butter
Olive oil
Extra dressing

These all add flavor and healthy fats to your diet. Personally, I prefer adding calories through this means instead of going to McDonalds and smashing a few McDoubles.

You will feel better, have more energy, and your stomach will thank you.

Note: A little bit goes a long way, so be sure to know how many calories you are adding.

Recommended Supplementation

I always recommend food over supplementation because you will feel better overall eating a wide variety of whole foods than you will simply living off of supplements.

With that being said, this routine is designed to help your body recover from heavy sessions and any strains or pains you may have picked up along the way.

Recovery supplements I recommend:

MTS Nutrition Machine Fuel – The innovative MTS Nutrition is forging the way with great tasting (from personal experience) amazing products that are seriously making huge waves in the supplement industry. Machine Fuel is a great tasting intra-workout BCAA that you should check out. BCAAs are muscle sparing and are great when you are an endurance athlete.

Fish Oil – This is a tried and true supplement that will help with joint health, anti-inflammatory, and just an overall great supplement. This small investment can make a huge difference in how you feel on a daily basis. I highly recommend checking out the other benefits to fish oil.

Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine – One of THE most tested supplements, creatine helps with recovery and athletic performance. Many pre-workouts have creatine in them, but I recommend having another 5g daily. It is one of the cheapest supplements and the most effective.

Bio-Gro – While I haven’t used Bio Gro, I have many friends and acquaintances who do use it and tell me how much they like it. I will work on getting some and giving you an honest opinion at some point. Do some homework and try it out if it sounds good.

ZMA – I currently have ZMA on the way and I am excited. ZMA helps with getting a deeper sleep (think recovery) and is one of the ingredients in my beloved Bullet Proof from Muscle Pharm that was discontinued.

MTS Machine Whey Protein: 5lbs – Last but not least, protein. This stuff is golden.

Cardio and Conditioning

This routine will be paired with some HIIT/power type cardio which will be a great addition to your power work you’ll be doing.

Conditioning is important to overall health and will affect your strength and power production… don’t skip out.

Sample Cardio Schedule:

On Workout Days:

Pre-workout: 10 minute low intensity warmup
Post-workout: 15-20 minute HIIT training using any equipment

On Off-Days:

I recommend 2 days outside of the gym to do HIIT training. You do not have to go to the gym for this, in fact I recommend not going.

I recommend 15-20 minutes of HIIT training on off days.

You can use any type of exercise but here are a few that you may want to try out:

Sprints
Hill Sprints
Vertical Jumps
Box Jumps
Run/Walk
Jump Squats (basically vertical jump but hitting a squat depth before you jump)

Sample Workout Schedule

Pick any three days per week to train, but I recommend having 1 day in between training days and then 2 days in between each week like this:

Monday – Upper Routine
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Lower Routine
Thursday – Off
Friday – Accessory Routine
Saturday – Off
Sunday – Off

Starting Weight

This section is only applicable to the big compound lifts; the accessory movements will be your usual weights.

Depending what your rep scheme is, this will be a little different but I will break it down for you.. this isn’t meant to be scientific.

If you’ve been training in the 5-3 rep range:

Start with ~75% of your working sets… round-up to the nearest usable weight (IE 196 = 200lbs)

If you’ve been training in the 8+ rep range:

Go ahead and drop ~85% weight. This sounds like a huge reduction but you ramp up quickly.

Notes:

The weight you use should be challenging but you should not go until failure.
Use this time to dial in form and treat every rep as if it is a PR. THIS is how you create good habits.

Workout Progression

The progression scheme with this routine is simple: add weight or reps each week.

There will be a point in the 12 weeks where you struggle to add weight. When you do, cut back the weights 50% the next week and deload. You’ll come back much stronger than you were and you will be able to progress further.