The PHUL workout program (Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower) is a popular weightlifting routine for individuals past beginner-level training. This four-day split maximizes performance across two distinct adaptations: muscular strength and muscle size. By integrating training principles from powerlifting and bodybuilding, PHUL offers a balanced approach to simultaneous strength and aesthetic gains. It is widely adopted by intermediate and advanced lifters seeking a comprehensive program.
The Core Philosophy of PHUL Training
The PHUL method addresses the challenge of training for both maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy within a single program. Traditional strength training uses heavy loads and low repetitions, enhancing neuromuscular efficiency and increasing one-rep max strength. Hypertrophy training emphasizes higher volume with moderate loads, creating the metabolic stress and mechanical tension necessary for muscle growth. The core benefit of PHUL is the strategic blending of these two stimuli across the training week.
This approach acknowledges that strength and size are optimized by different training parameters. Cycling between these focuses provides varied stimuli, preventing the body from adapting too quickly. This periodized structure leverages the principle that increased strength allows for lifting heavier weights during hypertrophy sessions, facilitating greater muscle volume. Power days lay the foundation for strength, enabling greater mechanical tension on hypertrophy days.
The Four-Day Weekly Structure
The PHUL program mandates a four-day training schedule structured as an upper/lower split that rotates between power and hypertrophy focuses. The four distinct workout days are Power Upper, Power Lower, Hypertrophy Upper, and Hypertrophy Lower. This structure ensures that every major muscle group is trained twice per week, a frequency highly effective for maximizing both strength and size adaptation.
A typical week involves performing the two power sessions early, followed by a rest day, and then the two hypertrophy sessions later. For example, a common split is Monday and Tuesday for power, Wednesday for rest, and Thursday and Friday for hypertrophy. This arrangement allows for adequate recovery time and ensures that muscle protein synthesis is continually stimulated. Rest days are strategically placed to prevent overtraining and allow for muscle repair and central nervous system recovery.
Executing Power Focused Sessions
The objective of the Power Focused Sessions is to maximize absolute strength gains by prioritizing high-intensity mechanical tension. These workouts rely on heavy compound movements (squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press) which engage multiple muscle groups. The weight lifted should be heavy, typically 80% to 90% of a lifter’s one-rep maximum, to trigger neural adaptations.
The repetition range for these main power lifts is kept low, typically 3 to 5 repetitions per set, across 3 to 4 working sets. This low-rep scheme allows for the use of maximal loads, necessary to recruit the highest-threshold motor units. Rest periods are significantly longer, often 3 to 5 minutes between sets, ensuring complete recovery. Lifters often aim for a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) of 8 or 9.
While the primary focus is on the main compound lifts, power days also include a small amount of accessory work in a slightly higher rep range (6 to 10 repetitions) to maintain muscle conditioning.
Executing Hypertrophy Focused Sessions
Hypertrophy Focused Sessions maximize muscle growth through higher total training volume and increased time under tension. The weight used is lighter than on power days, typically 65% to 75% of the one-rep maximum, allowing for greater volume accumulation. This lighter load shifts the physiological goal from maximal strength to inducing cellular swelling and metabolic stress.
The repetition range is significantly higher, generally 8 to 12 repetitions per set for compound movements, with accessory exercises often reaching 10 to 15 repetitions. This higher rep scheme increases the total volume and time the muscle spends contracting under load, signaling muscle protein synthesis. Rest periods are shorter, usually 60 to 90 seconds, to maximize metabolic fatigue.
These sessions incorporate a greater number of accessory and isolation exercises to target muscles more directly. Movements like bicep curls, leg extensions, cable flyes, and lateral raises are featured alongside lighter compound lifts. The goal is to accumulate sufficient volume and create micro-tears in the muscle fibers, leading to an increase in muscle size.