Dumbbell Upper/Lower

Who this is for

You've outgrown three-day full body. You train at home with dumbbells. You want to put more work into each muscle group without the session running 90 minutes.

Upper/Lower splits the work in half: heavier and more focused per session, more total volume per week. Four days works for many home lifters, enough work to progress without making one missed session wreck the schedule.

Structure

Two Upper days, two Lower days. Different exercises and rep schemes between A and B versions to vary the stimulus.

Upper A: Dumbbell Bench Press 4×6-8, Single-Arm Row 4×8, Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3×10, Lateral Raise 3×12, Curl 3×12. Lower A: Goblet Squat 4×6-8, Romanian Deadlift 4×8, Bulgarian Split Squat 3×10, Single-Leg Glute Bridge 3×12. Upper B: Dumbbell Incline Press 4×8-10, Bent Over Row 4×8, Arnold Press 3×10, Reverse Fly 3×15, Hammer Curl 3×12. Lower B: Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift 4×8, Walking Lunge 3×12 each leg, Single-Leg RDL 3×10, Calf Raise 3×15.

Typical week: Upper A / Lower A / rest / Upper B / Lower B / rest / rest.

How to run it in Rackd

Each session has 4-5 exercises. Rackd loads the heavy compound first (the 4×6-8 or 4×8), then accessories with shorter rest timers (60-90 seconds).

If you don't have heavy enough dumbbells for the bottom of a rep range, hold at the top of the range with a slower tempo (3-second eccentric) until you can upgrade.

Notes

• Dumbbell-only Upper/Lower has a ceiling. When your bench and row stall at the top of your dumbbell rack, you've outgrown the equipment. That's a good problem.
• Rotate Upper A → Upper B every workout, not every week. Keeps both halves fresh.
• Single-leg work is non-negotiable on the Lower days. Don't skip the Bulgarian split squat. It's the lift that makes the rest of your leg work matter.
• Upper days end with arms because your arms are already pre-fatigued. Do not do bicep curls first. You will have less left for rows.